110 most always directed somewhat downward, suggesting that this type of object was intended for placement in a position above those viewing it. This was similarly the case for wickerwork masks from the Blackwater Lakes area. The eyes of these sculptures are made of pieces of shell, probably from freshwater mussels. A piercing at the center of each represents the pupil and contributed to the stern countenance of the fi gure. According to Welsch (2013: 34), this type of sculpture was meant to “guarantee health, prosperity, and the social order in the villages’ public areas.” Their bases, made up of superposed and truncated conical elements (ranging from one to fi ve),23 are a hallmark of production in that region that continues today in the creation of gable sculptures of totemic birds that can still be seen on the roofs of Biwat religious structures. The inhabitants of the area were rapidly Christianized after the Second World War and it is possible that the missionaries had prohibited the sculpting of the traditional anthropomorphic representations, considering them to be accomplices of Satan (McDowell 1991: 160). The totemic birds served as replacements for these sculptures. Christian Kaufmann (2006: 132–135 and 415) suggests a relationship between these anthropomorphic fi gures and the legend of a culture hero called Bilishoi, whom Margaret Mead mentions in connection with the village of Kinakatem. This mythical being was feared for his power and he was believed to have had no respect for the social order. Obliged to seek refuge on a house gable, he was killed by a spear thrown by his pursuers, who were of Sepik River origin. The story then relates that his body was boiled and eaten by his attackers (McDowell 1991: 159).24 This myth is similar to that of Vlisso described by Karl Laumann (1952) from the Lower Yuat River area. The fi gures depicted on a large Biwat painting from Kinakatem collected by Margaret Mead in 1932 also are associated with the legends of Bilishoi and Vlisso. Such paintings were created for yam festivals (Mead 1963; McDowell 1991; Coiffi er 2013) and undoubtedly had a connection in the local ritual cycles with the wooden fi gures discussed above. SIMILAR SCULPTURES IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS Very few sculptures in the style of those seen in the van den Broek photograph exist in private or museum collections. One of the oldest ones known, 114 centimeters in height, is a representation of a standing male on a base composed of fi ve stacked conical elements. In contrast with other known examples, its head is distinctly FIG. 14: Male fi gure. Wood, pigment. H: 80 cm. Musée du Quai Branly, 71.1969.51.41. Collected during the La Korrigane expedition and donated to the Musée de l’Homme, Paris, by Régine de Ganay-van den Broek d’Obrenan. © 2015, Musée du Quai Branly. Photo: Patrick Gries/Scala, Florence. FEATURE
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