103 FIG. 12 (left): Figure with the personal name of Tamasua. Tambigenum Village, Yuat River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. 19th century. Wood, clay, resin, shell. H: 210 cm. Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery 81.26.178. Tamasua is a benevolent spirit being who is known for assisting in hunting. The history of Tamasua is well documented. He was taken from the village of Tambigenum after a successful headhunting raid by Maramba Village warriors during the mid-nineteenth century. A warrior called Tungémail carried him to Maramba on the old course of the Yuat River, which lay inland to the west of where the Yuat fl ows today. The fi gure of Tamasua is remarkable for its pose generated by the attenuated arms and fl exed legs balanced delicately on diminutive perched feet, which impart a great sense of movement. The head leans forward at a quizzical angle from heavy shoulders, and the face, with its layers of resinous, dried, and cracked matter, gives an affecting presence to the fi gure. The top of the head is conical, representing a woven rattan coif worn by men in the lower Sepik River area below Angoram to Kopar and in coastal communities near the mouth of the river. FIG. 13 (right): Ancestor fi gure with the personal name of Mogulapan. Torembi Village, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. 18th–early 19th century. Wood, natural pigments. H: 169 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1969, inv. 69.230.181. In the creation stories of the Sawos people, Mogulapan is a primordial ancestor. This fi gure of Mogulapan is carved from a dense wood using only tools of stone, shell, and bone. His chest bears circular scarifi cation designs and the triangular markings on his cheeks are those worn by established warriors. Mogulapan’s protruding eyes perhaps represent those of a crocodile. Below the right shoulder there is a large scorched area said to be evidence of a historic event when a ceremonial house was struck by lightning and caught fi re. This fragmentary fi gure once had arms and legs and was of much greater height. FIG. 14 (right): Head ornament, mubungasa. Yuat River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. 19th–early 20th century. Wood, fi ber, ocher. W: 20 cm. Private collection, Australia. A small number of these rare and exquisite objects exist, yet little is known as to their exact function. Information regarding three such ornaments collected by Australian E. J. Wauchope between 1935 and 1938 notes they are worn on the ear during performances to represent the eyes of a crocodile and are called mubungasa. All Mundugumor men consider themselves the sons of the ancestral “crocodile mother,” Ashin, which suggests these ornaments may have been worn in a ceremonial context associated with the original crocodile. FIG. 15 (above): Suspension hook, samban. East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Early–mid 20th century. Collected by Anthony Forge, 1958–1963. Wood, ocher. H: 62 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, gift of Cecilia Ng in memory of Anthony Forge, 2006, inv. 2006.654.56. Samban take many diverse forms and truly attest to the artistry of Sepik carvers. Each is beautifully carved in the form of a specifi c named ancestor or spirit being. Often the lower section is carved to depict the head of a catfi sh with its barbels becoming the hooks themselves. The iconography of the catfi sh is associated with powerful Waken spirits and may refer to part of an important Iatmul myth concerning sex.
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