The artists of the Tami Islands, a group of small islets off the eastern tip of the Huon Peninsula, were the most prolific carvers in northeast New Guinea. Tami carvers produced large quantities of objects, in part for local use but primarily for trade to neighboring groups. The most important Tami trade goods were intricately carved hardwood bowls, which formed an essential component of the bride-wealth gifts exchanged at marriage ceremonies throughout the region. Superbly crafted and highly polished, Tami bowls served as ceremonial vessels, used for the preparation and distribution of food during feasts and rituals. This bowl likely depicts the face of a spirit, clad in the distinctive three-peaked ceremonial headdress (oa balan) worn by prominent men.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Ceremonial Bowl
Date:19th–early 20th century
Geography:Papua New Guinea, Tami Islands
Culture:Tami Islands
Medium:Wood, traces of lime pigment
Dimensions:H. 4 1/2 × W. 9 5/8 × D. 18 1/4 in. (11.4 × 24.4 × 46.4 cm)
Classification:Wood-Containers
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
Accession Number:1979.206.1767
W. R. Marshall, MD, Massapequa, NY, until 1967; Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1967, on loan to The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1967–1978
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of Oceania, Africa and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art," May 10–August 17, 1969.
Museum of Primitive Art. "Faces," February 14, 1973–September 9, 1973.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
Shanghai. Museum of Art Pudong. "The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–August 20, 2023.
Doha. Qatar Museums. "The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 24, 2023–January 15, 2024.
Reichard, Gladys A. Melanesian Design: A Study of Style in Wood and Tortoiseshell Carving. Vol. 2 vols.. New York: Columbia University, 1933.
Bodrogi, Tibor. Art in North-East New Guinea. Budapest: Publishing House of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1961.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969.
Art From Melanesia. Purchase: Manhattanville College, New York, 1969, no. 79.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 121.
Newton, Douglas. Masterpieces of Primitive Art: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, p. 52 lower left.
Dark, Philip J.C. "Astrolabe Bay, Huon Gulf, and West New Britain." In Arts of the South Seas: Island Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia: the Collections of the Musée Barbier-Mueller, edited by Douglas Newton. Munich: Prestel Publishing, 1999.
Friede, John A. New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede. Vol. vol. 2. San Francisco: de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2005.
Kjellgren, Eric. Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, pp. 115–116, no. 70.
Nuku, Maia. Oceania: The Shape of Time. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023, p. 160, pl. 97.
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