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African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting
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Mask
Northern Solomon Islands, Nissan Island, 19th century
Bark cloth, fiber, wood, parinarium nut resin, paint; H: 23 1/4 in. (59 cm)
Provenance: Collected by Richard Parkinson, before 1903; Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany; [Maurice Bonnefoy, Geneva, 1969]; Barbier-Mueller collection, since 1969
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Masks on the island of Nissan in the northern Solomon Islands were made and worn by men. The precise forms and uses of masks on Nissan are not well documented, but masks of the type seen here appear to have been made and used in connection with the gardening activities that took place in preparation for major feasts. Manufactured in secret, the masks were worn with long garments of bark cloth that largely concealed the wearers' bodies so that they resembled forest spirits. On occasion, leaves were attached to the costumes to increase the effect. Once dressed, the masked performers made their way to the gardens where they could be seen by all members of the community.
As work in the gardens progressed, the masked figures periodically made unannounced visits to the plots, at times shooting arrows without points at the gardeners to make them work harder and drive off any malevolent magic that might have been cast against the gardens by enemies. Once the garden work and the feast were completed, the masks were thrown into the sea. When gardening activities for the next feast commenced, a new group of masks was created and the cycle began again. See a mask from Nissan in the Met's collection.
See the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History to learn more about the Solomon Islands.
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