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Mutuaga and Massim

Lime Spatula

Massim, 1800-1899

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Lime Spatula

Massim, 1800-1899

Physical Qualities Wood, pigments, W. 1 1/16 x L. 10 1/8 in. (2.7 x 25.7 cm.)
Credit Line Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number 1955.251.113
2003: "Among the Massim, spatulas were not only used to serve lime, they could also be endowed with ritual power. A spatula and ritually treated palm nuts could be given to a man to induce him to join in the important and competitive trade system called kula. As preperation for a kula trip, a ritual specialist could summon a spirit to inhabit a spatula with human figures. The spirit in the spatula protected the owner while he slept." either Frederick Lamp or Kathy Fernstrom hand written notes in object file identify both as author
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1955; Alan Wurtzburger
Douglas F. Fraser & Paul S. Wingret, "The Wurtzburger Collection of Oceanic Art" , BMA 1956 pg 32. ills 113.
Beran, Harry. Mutuaga, a nineteenth-century New Guinea master carver. Wollongong: University of Wollongong Press, 1996.

Artist

Mutuaga

1859–1919

c. 1860 - c. 1920
Meet Mutuaga →

Culture

Massim

2000–2000

Meet Massim →

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