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Bull-roarer, Upura or Umunu Viki, 19th century
Wood, pigment
58.4 x 8.9 x 0.3 cm (23 x 3 1/2 x 1/8 in.)
The Marcia and John Friede Collection, a Promised Gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L05.1.174

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art PUBLICATIONS: 2005 - "Bull-roarers were used by the Gulf people as miniature spirit boards (hohao among the Elema) and sound-making devices employed in ancestor commemorative ceremonies. The name derives from the roaring sound which the instrument makes when it is whirled rapidly over the head, attached to a cord. For a summary description of the use of bull-roarers from the Purari delta, see Lewis-Harris, 1996: 26. However, many bull-roarers, especially in the western Gulf, lack the attachment hole and were used solely as ritual objects. In the Purari delta (immediately west of Orokolo), the bull-roarers were sometimes stored in the huge wickerwork kaiaimunu (kaiemunu or kanifus) monsters in the recesses of the spirit house. (See Newton, 1961, figs. 174, 176-77. Also see the illustration of the Urama Island version of the figures in Specht and Fields, 1984: 181, Frank Hurley photograph.) The bull-roarers were said to be the voice of the supernatural beats. However, depending on the ethnic group in the Purari River delta, they could be stored in various places: "laid out on a palm-leaf mat in the rear compartment of the ravi [ceremonial house];...in bags suspended in each larava [alcoves in the ravi];...hidden beneath the crocodile skulls [which were displayed in front of the ancestral tablets (kwoi)] or behind the kwoi in the larava [or]...beneath layers of palm-leaf mats" (Williams, 1977: 6)." (Catalog #438, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 158.)

Related Keywords
Viki Umunu or Upura roarer Bull Francisco San Museums Arts Fine Gift Promised Friede John Marcia Art Jolika speakers language Orokola people Elema western Oceania Province Gulf Guinea New object Ritual pigment Wood 0726200511300003 A361089 L05.1.174 AOA