We have no information concerning the decorative art of the greater
portion of the littoral of the Papuan Gulf, but from two rubbings sent
to me by my friend, Mr. Robert Bruce, in 1894, it appears that the
human face is largely represented. In Fig. 9 we see that simplified
faces constitute a pattern which adorns a canoe.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.—Rubbing of part of a carved pattern, along a
canoe from near Cape Blackwood. Taken by R. Bruce, 1894. One-sixth
natural size.]
At the eastern side of the bight of the Gulf of Papua there is a
very energetic, boisterous people of dark complexion, who inhabit
the vicinity of Freshwater Bay. Their best known village is Toaripi
(Motu Motu); the term Elema includes this and other tribes in the
neighbourhood.
The district is fertile, wooded, and well-watered. Sago is abundant,
and fleets of trading canoes sail annually to and from the Motu tribe
of Port Moresby to exchange pottery for sago.
The decorative art of this district is so characteristic that it is
impossible to mistake it. Objects of wood are cut in flat relief, and
those made of bamboo are similarly treated, the design being emphasised
by the colouring of the intaglio. The vast majority of the designs
are derived from the human figure, and most particularly the face.
There are very few designs which cannot be traced to this origin;
occasionally a crocodile or a lizard may be introduced.
The employment of masks during sacred ceremonies, which was such a
notable feature of Torres Straits, recurs here also to an equal degree,
but instead of the masks being made in wood or turtle-shell, they are
constructed of a light framework on which is stitched the inner bark of
a tree. The device is outlined by cloissons of the midrib of a leaf,
and the figures are picked out in red and black, and the background is
usually painted white. This _cloissonée_ technique is peculiar to this
district, and it appears to have affected also the method of carving
patterns in wood.
The form and decoration of these masks is so varied that it would
be tedious to describe them. In the majority of them a human face
is readily recognisable, but in some of the larger examples it has
practically become lost. In nearly all, instead of a human mouth, the
mask is provided with a long snout, the jaws of which are usually
numerously toothed. There can be little doubt that this represents
a crocodile’s snout. Almost wherever it occurs, the crocodile or
alligator, as the case may be, enters into the religion of people,
doubtless, primarily, on account of its size and predatory habits. It
is very frequently a totem, as, for example, in Torres Straits, and it
is very probable that here also its presence in conjunction with the
human form is symbolic of a totemistic relation between the man and the
reptile. We know extremely little about the use, and nothing of the
significance, of the masks of this region, but it appears that their
use is in connection with the initiation of the lads into manhood, and
a common feature of initiation is the association of the totem with
the individual. Some masks represent what appears to be intended for a
pig’s head; a bird and other forms may also be introduced. Occasionally
a human head may be given to a grotesque animal form.
The shields are oblong or ovoid in shape, and have a central slit
cut out at the top. Most of the former are decorated with an easily
recognisable human face; sometimes the face is doubled, but in these
cases it is only the nose and mouth that are repeated, a single pair
of eyes having to do duty for the two faces. The faces are subject to
considerable modification, the two eyes, or even only a single eye may
alone be recognisable.
Characteristic of typical New Guinea villages are large houses which
men alone may enter. Here the lads who are being initiated into manhood
are lodged, here the masks and other sacred objects are kept; they
combine the offices of clubs, guest-houses, and religious edifices.
In this district, as well as in the Fly River delta, they are usually
decorated with human and animal carvings, and in them are suspended
wooden slabs of an elongated oval shape, which are carved in a similar
manner to the shields. These tablets appear to be employed as charms
for good-luck, but we do not know whether they are also used in the
initiation ceremonies; they are decorated with extremely conventional
representations of the human form, or may be only a face; sometimes
monstrous combinations of a man and animal may be carved.
When men have passed through all the stages of initiation, they are
entitled, so Mr. Chalmers informs us, to wear broad, carved wooden
belts. These belts encircle the body thrice, and like many other
symbols of distinction must be extremely inconvenient to wear. I have
made rubbings of quite a considerable number of these belts, and have
come across only a few in which human faces could not be distinguished.
The design is so engraved that the pattern is in flat relief; this is
kept dark in colour, and shows up against the whitened background.
Certain details of the design are often picked out in red, the exposed
uncarved portion of the belt and most usually the narrow plain border
above and below the pattern are painted red. The design commences at
one end of the belt, and terminates when one circumference is nearly
attained.
There is a wonderful diversity of pattern in these belts, yet, at
the same time, there is a fundamental similarity in the style of
the designs which clearly indicates a community of origin. A very
considerable proportion of the belts known to me exhibit a true
decorative taste on the part of artists, and in some cases pleasing
and ingenious patterns have been evolved. It may not be superfluous
to point out that, whereas “eye-spots” are usually intended for eyes,
they are sometimes employed as an appropriate decorative device;
similarly toothed lines may represent human teeth, rarely hair, and not
infrequently they are purely ornamental.
I have made a selection of ten of these belts which sufficiently
illustrate their character and the sort of modification which occurs.
Figs. 11 to 19 are photographed from rubbings of part of the decoration
of wooden belts from the Papuan Gulf. Fig. 10 represents the whole of
the ornamentation. All are one-fourth natural size.
CLASSIFICATION OF CARVED PATTERNS ON WOODEN BELTS FROM THE GULF OF
PAPUA.
_Human Face Derivatives._
SERIES I.—UNISERIAL, VERTICAL.
1. Faces looking the same way.
2. Faces alternately looking up and down.
SERIES II.—UNISERIAL, HORIZONTAL.
1. Faces looking the same way.
2. Faces alternately looking towards and away from one another.
(_a_) All faces separate.
(_b_) Faces looking towards one another grouped together.
(_c_) Faces looking away from one another grouped together.
SERIES III.—BISERIAL, VERTICAL.
1. Faces only looking towards one another.
2. Faces only looking away from one another.
3. Faces alternately looking towards and away from one another.
(A) All faces of equal size.
(B) Faces looking towards one another most prominent.
(C) Faces looking away from one another most prominent.