Adorning both dwellings and men’s houses, the suspension hook is a classic
Middle Sepik art form serving domestic as well as ceremonial purposes. In
the family houses the hooks are primarily used for hanging up food in net
bags, while the hooks which hang in the men’s houses mainly serve ceremonial
purposes. Each of the most important "wagen" spirits, those responsible for
the welfare of the entire village community, has its own hook in the men’s
house and an attendant. The wagen is activated by giving the attendant gifts
such as chicken and betel nuts which he hangs on the hook and then eats. Only
then can the wagen spirit truly enter into this man and through him communicate
with the people. The hooks which hang in family houses represent subordinate,
clan-specific wagen, which are sometimes activated in a similar way for the
clan’s internal affairs (Schmid 1985: 191). The figurative execution of suspension
hooks gives no indication of their function; in general, the imagery includes
human and animal which refer to the clan-specific mythology of the owner.
This hook is representative of a widely distributed Middle Sepik hook type,
which has an anthropomorphic head set atop a schematically rendered body.
The body of this hook, with its undulating, segmented, form, suggests a snake,
a totemic animal for many clans. The face possesses a serenity of expression
which is unusual in Middle Sepik anthropomorphic representations. The Iatmul
are typical of Middle Sepik peoples in their belief that the ideal man should
be “hot” – aggressive, energetic, spiritually powerful (Bateson 1958:131)
– and Middle Sepik art, with its dynamic forms and vibrant carved and painted
patterns, often seems to partake of this ethos. In a different way, this hook
evokes a powerful spiritual presence through its commanding frontal presentation,
rectilinear painted patterns, and rhythmically-carved contours. Cf. Stohr
1972, fig. 234 for a hook figure attributed to the Middle Sepik with similar,
though less elaborate, painted designs and a similar sharply angled, arrow-like
hook, but with a very different face. See Reche 1913, figs. 112, 114, for
Middle Sepik hooks of similar construction. See Bateson, Gregory. 1958
Naven:
A Survey of the Problems suggested by a Composite Picture of the Culture of
a New Guinea Tribe drawn from Three Points of View (1936) Stanford: Stanford
Univ. Press. Schmid, Christin Kocher. 1985. “Catalogue” in Suzanne
Greub,
ed. Authority and Ornament: Art of the Sepik River, Basel: Tribal Art Centre
p. 177-210. Stohr, Waldermar. 1972. Melanesien: Schwarze Inseln der Sudsee,
Cologne: J.P. Bachem. Reche, Otto. 1913. Der Kaiserin-Augusta Fluss, Ergebnisse
der Sudsee Expedition 1908-1910, II, A, Vol. 1. Hamburg: Friederichsen
DeGruyter.
Published: Hurst Gallery. 1992. Art and Artifacts of Melanesia. Cambridge:
Hurst Gallery. ( cat. 40 page 48) |
