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Funerary Figure (Kulap)

late 19th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 354
In the southern part of New Ireland, a large island north of New Guinea, artists created chalk figures portraying both male and female subjects. Housed in small shrines constructed in the forest outside the village, the figures played a central role in a cult of the dead. Variable in their individual styles and attributes, it is possible that the figures were intended to portray specific individual ancestors whose supernatural powers could be harnessed to benefit their living descendants.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Funerary Figure (Kulap)
  • Date: late 19th century
  • Geography: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland
  • Culture: Southern New Ireland
  • Medium: Chalk, paint
  • Dimensions: H. 19 1/8 × W. 4 1/4 × D. 4 1/2 in. (48.6 × 10.8 × 11.4 cm)
  • Classification: Stone-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Gift of Evelyn A. J. Hall, 1981
  • Object Number: 1981.331.5
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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