ART on View FIG. 12 (below): Ceremonial flute stopper. Biwat people, Yuat River, Lower Sepik area, Papua New Guinea. Before 1931. Wood, pigment. H: 41.3 cm. Donated in 1931 by the Baroness de Bethune- Wienholt to the MRAH, Brussels, in memory of her husband, Baron Felix de Béthune. Acquired by the MRAC by exchange in 1979. MRAC inv. #EO.1979.1.1303. Biwat carving is extraordinarily powerful in its portrayal of the human form and its intent to protect. These sculptures were made to be inserted into sacred bamboo flutes while they were being stored. The sounds of these flutes were the actual voices of the spirits and their magic needed to be controlled. This example has been painted in the style of initiate face painting that is found at the junction of the Biwat and Sepik rivers. 90 FIG. 13 (right): Pectoral mask. Lower Sepik area, Papua New Guinea. Before 1932. Wood, human hair, fiber, rattan, pigment. H: 21.2 cm. Donated by Henri Lavachery in 1932 to the MRAH, Brussels. Acquired by the MRAC by exchange in 1979. MRAC inv. #EO.1979.1.1297. While miniature masks and figures were protective forces embodying the ancestral spirits, they were utilized in ways different from the larger versions. Reflecting the personal rather than the community, they were often attached to net bags and other personal objects, or they were worn directly as beard or hair ornaments. This small mask would have been worn as a chest pectoral and, with its addition of human hair, would have been highly charged.
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