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Drum, Kandara, 19th century
Wood, pigment, fiber, mammal skin (probably tree kangaroo, Dendrolagus), gum (blood and lime)
152.4 cm (60 in.)
Gift of Marcia and John Friede in honor of Diane B. Wilsey and Harry S. Parker III 2007.44.89

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: "Collected by Father Petrus Vertenten, m.s.c., between 1910-25, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Tilburg, The Netherlands." (Catalog #508, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 171.) 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) - "An elegant hourglass shape and skillfully proportioned handle distinguish this five-foot-tall Marind-anim drum. Mammal skin is stretched over the top of the wooden chamber and attached using a mixture of blood and lime. At the base a curvilinear relief carving references the organic form of a wasp hive, and at the top a star or flying fox. (1) These patterns are beautifully enhanced with white, black, and red pigments. The Marind-anim people live on the southern coast of New Guinea between the Asmat and Torres Strait regions. They have an elaborate belief system center around déma who are primordial beings or ancestors from the time of creation that gave birth to all earthly things. (2) Theatrical performances are an integral part of Marind-anim life with singing, costumed dancers, and drumming. (3) This large drum is reserved for samb-zi, which is a great festive song restricted to male participation. (4) Drummers assemble around a big fire heating and tightening the top wrap of their drums, and dancers with reed and feather headdresses quietly huddle. When the drumming starts, the dancers begin moving to its moderate tempo swinging all the ornaments hanging from their bodies. As the drummers increase their speed, the dancers do too and their wooden phalli swing up and down. The women watch this sexually charged dance from a distance. (5) Petrus Vertenten collected this drum while he was with the Marind-Anim in Dutch New Guinea between 1910 and 1925. He established himself in literature and art before traveling to New Guinea and latter to the Congo as a Catholic missionary. These experiences abroad greatly influenced his writing, drawing, and painting, which are today housed at the Catholic Documentation Center in Nijmegen and the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam. (6)" FOOTNOTES (1) Paul Wirz in John and Marcia Friede, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, exh. cat. (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2005), 171. (2) Anthony Meyer, Oceanic Art, Vol. I. (Köln, Germany: Köneman Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 1995), 89. (3) Douglas Newton, Art of the South Seas: Island Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia; the collections of the Musee Barbier-Mueller (Munich: Prestel, 1999), 186-187. (4) Dr. J. Van Baal, Dema: Description and Analysis of Marind-anim Culture (South New Guinea) (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1966), 822. (5) Van Baal, Dema, 824. (6) Honoré Vinck, “General Bibliography of Petrus Vertenten and Inventory of the Vertenten Papers.” Centre Æquatoria, Centre de Recherches Culturelles Africanistes. 23 April 2008. Online: <http://www.aequatoria.be/BiblioVertenten.html>. 2005 - "This big drum has a mammal skin as tympanum because the more usual lizard skin would not be large enough. The skin is attached by means of a mixture of blood (usually of an animal, sometimes of a man) and lime (Wirz, 1922, vol. 1, 83). The curvilinear design carved in the lower part of the drum is called pihuiarir (wasp ornament) in reference to the structure in which the wasps have their abode. At the top end a star (wajar) or flying fox (kiu) design is often carved (ibid., xiii, 83, pl. 25, figs. 6 and 7; see also Meyer, 1995: 92, fig. 77 for a comparable drum). Such huge drums were used to accompany particular festive songs and dances (samb-zi) for men only. "Originally it was the dance for every major feast..." and "when samb-zi is sung, the big drums are beaten" (van Baal, 1966: 824). Women and girls watch from a distance. Smaller drums were used in another dance (gad-zi) in which girls and young women took part. They "stand or walk in the centre" and "they are surrounded by the young men, some of them beating small drums, i.e. drums not more than two feet in length, the big drums, which may measure up to six feet, being reserved for the big dances such as samb-zi" (ibid., 822). A comparable large drum collected by Rather Vertenten at Okaba (a coastal village 80 km west of Merauke) was named "Geb" after a particular dema, and was said to be the property of the somb-anem "Wianem" (van Royen, 1996: 28)." (Catalog #508, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 171.)

Related Keywords
Kandara III Parker Harry Wilsey B Diane honor Gift 171 p 2 Volume 2005 Friede John Marcia Jolika Masterpieces Art 508 Catalog Netherlands Tilburg Heart Sacred Missionaries 25 1910 between c s m Vertenten Petrus Father by Collected people anim Marind Oceania Jaya Irian Papua West Guinea New Instrument Musical lime blood gum Dendrolagus kangaroo tree skin mammal fiber pigment Wood pigments red black white enhanced Patterns fox flying star top hive wasp form organic references carving relief curvilinear base song festive great zi samb use reserved drum Large 0118200513410005 A361205 2007.44.89 AOA