Record

Carved wooden figure (also known as totok), from special commemorative festival (malagan)

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in New Ireland, Melanesia

Postcard of Carved wooden figure (also known as totok), from special commemorative festival (malagan).
000-180-000-763-C
© National Museums Scotland

Carved wooden figure (also known as totok), from special commemorative festival (malagan)

This carved figure (totok), a stylised human grasping a bird and being attacked by snakes, represents a community's ancestral spirit in New Ireland in the Pacific. It was made for display during a funerary malagan ceremony.

This openwork carved wooden figure shows a human-like figure grasping a bird with its head outstretched towards his feet. Stylised snakes reach up from beneath his feet. The lifelike eyes are made from parts of snails.

Malagan ceremonies took several days, cost a lot to organise, and often took place several years after an important person died. They commemorated that person and any others who had died, and sent off their spirits.


Record details

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Online ID: 000-180-000-763-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  A.1899.292
Date: 1890s
Material:
Dimensions: 31.50" H
What: Idol
Subject: Miscellaneous
Who:
Where: Melanesia, New Ireland
Event:
Description: Wooden idol of an erect demon surrounded by bird and snake-like figures, carved in openwork and painted, and with opercula eyes and fibre hair: Melanesian, New Ireland
References:
  • Lincoln, L (ed). Assemblage of Spirits. New York: George Braziller, 1987. 
  • Sheridan, J A (ed). Heaven and Hell and Other Worlds of the Dead. Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland, 2000. 
Translations:
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