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African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting
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Female Figure (Dinonga Eidu)
Caroline Islands, Nukuoro Island, 18th–19th century
Wood; H: 15 13/16 in. (40.2 cm)
Provenance: Paul Guillaume, Paris; Marie-Ange Ciolkowksa; George Ortiz, Switzerland; [Lance Entwistle, London, 1986]; Barbier-Mueller collection, since 1986
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With a minimalist aesthetic that combines subtle curves with a forceful rigid angularity, the unique human images from the atoll of Nukuoro, just north of the equator in the Caroline Islands, are among the most renowned forms of Oceanic sculpture. Nukuorans formerly venerated both deities and deified ancestors. Each divinity was manifest in a specific object, called a tino, under the care of a religious specialist. The tino could be a natural object, such as a stone or animal, or a human figure (dinonga eidu).
Dinonga eidu occurred in two sizes. Large examples, some more than seven feet (2.17 m) high, were housed in the island's central ceremonial house. Smaller versions, such as this one, may have been kept in clan shrines or, possibly, in individual family dwellings. Seen here unadorned, this figure was probably dressed in garments of matting or bark cloth, decorated with flowers, and presented with offerings, when in use. These adornments were periodically renewed for important religious festivals, such as harvest rites.
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