Abelam
Ancestral Figure Surmounting a Cassowary Bird’sHead (Ngwalndu)
Abelam (Western), 1953-1958
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Abelam
Ancestral Figure Surmounting a Cassowary Bird’sHead (Ngwalndu)
Abelam (Western), 1953-1958
Physical Qualities
Wood, pigments, 64 x 15 9/16 in. (162.5 x 39.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of The Hecht Company
Object Number
1964.2.19
Wooden posts, sometimes carved in a standardized human form, are used by the Abelam to contain or represent many types of spirits (see photo). Among these spirits are the Ngwalndu, who are responsible for promoting the welfare and fertility of the people and their yams and pigs. Ngwalndu are kept inside the Men’s Houses, which are the focus of activities such as debates and ceremonies. The bird is an ancestral figure for the clan that owned it.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift 1964; the Hecht Company
Coupaye, Ludovic. Growing artefacts, displaying relationships: yams, art and technology amongst the Nyamikum Abelam of Papua New Guinea. Vol. 2. Berghahn Books, 2013.
Losche, Diane. "What Do Abelam Images Want from Us?: Plato's Cave and Kwatbi's Belly." The Australian journal of anthropology 8, no. 2 (1997): 35-49.
Losche, Diane. "The Sepik gaze: Iconographic interpretation of Abelam form." Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice 38 (1995): 47-60.
Forge, Anthony. “Style and Meaning in Sepik Art,” in Primitive Art and Society, ed. Anthony Forge, 169-192. London: Oxford Univ. Press.1973.
Forge, Anthony.“Art and Environment in the Sepik,” in Art and Aesthetics in Primitive Societies , ed. C. Jopling, 290-314. NY: E. P. Dutton. 1971
Losche, Diane. "What Do Abelam Images Want from Us?: Plato's Cave and Kwatbi's Belly." The Australian journal of anthropology 8, no. 2 (1997): 35-49.
Losche, Diane. "The Sepik gaze: Iconographic interpretation of Abelam form." Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice 38 (1995): 47-60.
Forge, Anthony. “Style and Meaning in Sepik Art,” in Primitive Art and Society, ed. Anthony Forge, 169-192. London: Oxford Univ. Press.1973.
Forge, Anthony.“Art and Environment in the Sepik,” in Art and Aesthetics in Primitive Societies , ed. C. Jopling, 290-314. NY: E. P. Dutton. 1971
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