Over Modeled Skull from Papua New Guinea

Over Modeled Skull, 20th Century
Middle Sepik River area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Human skull, clay, pigment, shell, and human hair; 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 x 7 15/16 in.
99.43.9
Donated by Rear Admiral Ralph and Sara Garrison This over modeled skull is a funerary ritual object from the Middle Sepik River area in Papua New Guinea and can be witnessed up-close in the Bowers’ ongoing exhibition Spirits and Headhunters: Art of the Pacific Islands. Chilling and hauntingly unique, this example of Melanesian culture was not created in an artisanal vacuum, but rather took on subjectivity in a complex series of negotiations and processes between the worlds of the living and the dead and between the individual and society. The over modeling process was not an end in itself but a mediary between a primary and secondary burial of the deceased’s remains, further complicated by sets of mourning rituals, ranging from the celebratory to the silent. The over modeling process, examples of which can be seen all over the world across the ages, is part of a particularly rich and captivating tradition in the South Pacific islands that begins surprisingly not immediately after death, but after the body has been processed through the village and mourned for the first time, and buried for a variable period of time. After the grave is opened, the actual human skull that is simultaneously hidden and echoed by the red clay, shells, white pigment, and actual human hair that adorn it, is cleaned and prepared to receive the treatment visible here. The transformation from a literal bone white skeletal canvas back into the fleshy likeness of the deceased is not carried out by kin, but by the most able artisan, a choice that reflects this culture’s appreciation for skill and distinguished craftsmanship. The clay and bone—the soft and hard, masculine and feminine—coming together represents life’s opposites and the complementarity experienced in everyday life. Finally, the finished over modeled skull, the final design of which is believed to be approved by the deceased himself, is carried through the village and mourned yet again in a variety of ways. The diversity and complexity of Melanesian funerary rites and the over modeled skulls that figure so prominently in them are but one of the reasons that make the cultures of the South Pacific so intriguing to so many. All text and images under copyright. Please contact Collection Department for permission to use. Information subject to change upon further research.