Ancestor figure «kawe»
Asmat, Papua-Neuguinea
wood, middle brown patina, a fragile body, dissolved in stylized forms, consisting of tube-like limbs arranged bifurcate, with knobs forming the knees and feet, a reflection of the body added to the front, duplicating the body to a certain extent, a narrow anthropomorphic head with accentuated brows and a protruding broad mouth, the ears arranged vice versa, bifurcate base with tapering plugs, dam., cracks (right side of the head), place of repair (both upper arms), on base; in the Asmats creation myth the big hero «fumeripit» carved a number of human figures. When beating his drum they came alive, forming the first clans. The rigid motionlessness of the «kawe» figures should remind of the initial inanimateness of the first human beings.
The deceased is depicted in the shape of a «praying mantis». This so-called «wenet» motif, is used for decorating drums, fighting shields, paddles and bowls throughout the whole Asmat region. It can be looked upon as the symbol for head hunting par excellence, because the female of that kind of insects bites off the males head after copulation took place.
H: 128 cm, coll. in situ between 1958-61 (4735/008)

Provenance:
Coll. Dr. van Amelsvoort, The Netherlands

Lit.: Helfrich, Klaus u.a., Asmat, Mythos und Kunst im Leben mit den Ahnen, Musuem für Völkerkunde, Berlin 1996, p. 179 f.; p. 183, ill. 12.12