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Headdress, Kangakanga, 19th century
Feathers, mostly Raggiana bird of paradise (Paradisea raggiana), lorikeet (Trichoglossus sp.) and sulfur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita); cane, fiber, melo shell, turtle shell, stuffed Paradise raggiana, hornbill beak, hair, string, cloth, beads
215 x 115 x 20 cm (84 5/8 x 45 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
The Marcia and John Friede Collection, a Promised Gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L05.1.143

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: "Collected in the 19th century for the Pitt Rivers Museum, Farnham, Dorset. Never unpacked, which results in its mint condition. Obtained from Stella Pitt Rivers by Peter Adler." (Catalog #427, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 155.) EXHIBITIONS: 1986-87 - Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, 1986-87. PUBLICATIONS: 2005 - "Each headdress design was uniquely the property of one Mekeo clan or pangua, and represented a clan badge (Seligmann, 1910: 230). The kap-kap (Melanesian Pidgin) ornaments of melo shell and openwork turtle shell, called kefe by the Mekeo, were traded from the Roro, a neighboring ethnic group on the coast, who called them koiyu. These ornaments were of great symbolic significance, and were worn by potential brides as finery on their arms. The designs or clan badges of the headdresses as a whole were derived from elements in nature: plants, animals (or parts thereof), even inanimate objects, to which the clan members have a special relationship. This headdress may represent the outline of Boboleva (Mount Davidson); a feather headdress recorded by C.G. Seligmann in which the plumes of the Raggiana bird of paradise (as in the example depicted here) were said to represent that particular mountain. See Seligmann, 1910, pl. xxxiii and xliii for field photographs of respectively Roro and Mekeo headdresses worn by male dancers. See also Williamson, c. 1915: 7 for a Roro headdress. Such headdresses were worn during feasts celebrating the end of a period of mourning for important people. Only a few old headdresses have survived. One-a Roro headdress-is in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden (RMV, 1999-550; see Smidt, 1987: 270-71, pl. 121). It was collected about 1914 by missionary H. van Neck m.s.c. at Tsiria village, Yule Island. Two others are in the Bristish Museum, London (letter by H. van Neck m.s.c. dated 10 June 1920, Archives Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden; confirmed by D. Starzecka, personal communication to Dirk Smidt, Oct. 28, 1986, and the Vatican Museums, Rome). Another one may exist in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Apart from the Leiden piece, however, there are no published examples of complete kangakanga in museum collections." (Catalog #427, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 155.)

Related Keywords
Kangakanga Headdress Francisco San Museums Arts Fine Gift Promised 155 p 2 Volume 2005 Friede John Marcia Jolika Masterpieces Art 427 Catalog Adler Peter by Stella Obtained condition mint results which unpacked Never Dorset Farnham Museum Rivers Pitt century 19th Collected peopl Mekeo Ngangai Inawi clan Ipuaina village Rarai possibly Oceania Province Central Guinea New Papua Melanesia Accessory Costume beads cloth string hair beak hornbill stuffed turtle shell melo fiber cane galerita Cacatua cockatoo crested sulfur sp Trichoglossus lorikeet Paradisea paradise bird Raggiana mostly Feathers 0709200406050457 A361058 L05.1.143 AOA