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Yam Mask, Baba Mini, 20th century
Fiber - stem of lygodium (a climbing fern), pigment - red, black, white
70 x 22 x 22 cm (27 9/16 x 8 11/16 x 8 11/16 in.)
Gift of Marcia and John Friede in honor of Diane B. Wilsey and Harry S. Parker III 2007.44.24

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art EXHIBITIONS: 2005 - New Guinea Art. Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede. De Young Museum, San Francisco, 2005. PUBLICATIONS: 2009 FAM Bulletin entry (unabridged) - "The Abelam revere yams as a dietary staple and as objects imbued by powerful spirits. (1) This yam mask, or baba mini, was probably used to decorate the finest yams in annual exchange ceremonies and competitions celebrating the harvest. (2) The ceremony begins with families arranging their fresh yams in the village square and then, one by one, the clan elders present their yams to a man from another clan. (3) A yam is judged primarily by its animism and size: “to give a larger one than you receive demonstrates your superiority over your partner. To fail in these exchanges over several years results in loss of prestige.” (4) Basketry is the preferred medium for yam masks because its flexible weave adapts to the organic shape of tubers. (5) The Abelam have mastered the art of weaving rattan into complex, openwork forms. This zoomorphic face with mesmerizing eyes and a ridgeline nose is common, though the headdress is an extraordinary addition. (6) Abelam men traditionally removed all the hair from their forehead with the exception of one triangular piece, and fanned the hair atop their head from ear to ear. (7) A triangular motif emerges through the red and black lines at the top of this mask and more subtly by connecting the white circular vertex with the white eyes below. Scholars have interpreted baba masks as a variety of otherworldly beings including a female fertility figure, a totem bird, and a pig-like animal. (8)" FOOTNOTES (1) Laurie W. Austin and Jehanne H. Teilhet, “Art in its Cultural Context,” Art of New Guinea: Sepik, Maprik, and Highlands; an exhibition arranged by the Museum and Laboratories of Ethnic Arts and Technology, UCLA and the Ethnic Arts Council, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: University of California, 1967), 29-30. (2) John and Marcia Friede, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, exh. cat. (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2005), 132. (3) Austin and Teilhet, Art of New Guinea, 30. (4) Diane Losche in Friedes, New Guinea Art, 132. (5) Austin and Teilhet, Art of New Guinea, 31. (6) Austin and Teilhet, Art of New Guinea, 30-31. (7) Anthony Forge, Primitive Art & Society (London: Oxford University Press, 1973), 184. (8) Austin and Teilhet, Art of New Guinea, 31; Suzanne Greub, Authority and Ornament: Art of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea (Basel: Tribal Art Centre, 1985), 197. 2005 - "This mask, pl. 304, and perhaps pl. 299 were probably used to decorate large yams in annual ceremonies and competitions celebrating the yam harvest. The phallic-shaped male yams as well as the 'two-legged' bifurcated female yams were decorated with elaborate ornaments and displayed inside as well as in front of the men's house, in the context of ceremonial exchanges with traditional exchange partners. See Koch, 1968, figs. 8, 9, and 10, and Hauser-Schäublin, 1989b, pl. v, figs. C6 and C7, and cover dust jacket, for examples. The yams in this case were Dioscorea alata, which can produce tubers, mambutap or wapi, two meters (6 feet) long. Men competed for the great prestige won by the grower of the largest yam: 'to give a larger one than you receive demonstrates your superiority over your partner. To fail in these exchanges over several years results in loss of prestige' (Losche, 1982: 22-23; see also Hauser-Schäublin, 1989)." (Catalog #301, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 132.)

Related Keywords
Mini Yam III Parker S Harry Wilsey B Diane honor Friede John Marcia Gift Art Jolika subgroup Wosera people Abelam Oceania Province Sepik East Guinea New Sculpture white black red pigment fern climbing lygodium stem Fiber animal pig bird totem figure fertility female including beings otherworldly variety as masks baba interpreted Scholars addition extraordinary an headdress though common nose ridgeline eyes mesmerizing face Zoomorphic mask basketry rattan Woven 0709200406050255 A361009 2007.44.24 AOA