A Rare Pair of New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago Man’s Dance Garters

A Rare Pair of New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago Man’s Dance Garters
An old label attached reading: ‘Garters, New Ireland’
Fibre, drilled white spondylus shell with tufts of tied bark cloth
19th century
Size: 35.5 cm long – 14 ins long ( approx. )
In New Ireland the Malanggan was not only an important ritual carving but the generic term for a complex of ceremonies and various artefacts associated with them. These ceremonies combined initiation rites for boys and commemorative rites for the dead. They took place over a period of three months, the climax being the public display of carvings and dances performed with fibre crested masks, whilst dressed in ritual jewellery such as these garters designed to be tied around the ankle.

A Rare Pair of New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago Man’s Dance Garters

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ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk