Fly Whisk (Tahiri)

Fly Whisk (Tahiri)

Fly Whisk (Tahiri). Culture: Austral Islanders. Dimensions: W. 5 1/8 x L. 32 in. (13 x 81.3 cm). Date: early to mid-19th century. Artists of the Austral Islands created delicate fly whisks with handles adorned with stylized human figures that likely portray ancestors or other supernatural beings. This work depicts two highly stylized male figures who share a single teardrop-shaped body. The peg-like projections on the foreheads likely represent the ornamental topknots of hair formerly worn by Austral Islands men. As well as being symbols of chiefly status, it is likely that such finely crafted fly whisks also served an important ritual function. Tipped with brushlike bundles of fiber, these artefacts were literally fanned or 'whisked' in bold gestural movements to attract the presence of gods. Several examples retain cut sections of polished pearlshell which rattled and caught the light in a bid to call ancestral gods across from the spiritual realm.

Wood, fiber, human hair

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Model: No - Property: No
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3145 x 4221 px | 38.0 MB

26.6 x 35.7 cm | 10.5 x 14.1 in (300 dpi)