figure (ritual & belief: representations)

Standing wooden figure of a man, attached to wooden base. Figure carved in one piece, with arms hanging down free from side, and legs apart. Eyes and mouth recessed holes, and ears pierced. A large`V’ shape tattoo incised on chest. A piece of wood attached as projecting penis. The figure decorated with red and white plaited cane armbands on recesses made on the upper arms, brown string and white fibred tassels suspended from ears and from wrists, with two white feathers and two tufts of long red and white hair standing upright on top of the head, and a tuft of red hair on each shoulder. The figure is carved with a base, which is nailed onto a stand with four sloping sides. In the stand, on each side of the figure, are three long tufts of red and white hair.

see note

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

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