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Loin cloth, Sporan, 20th century
Woven fiber, Dendrobium orchid fiber, pigment, pigs' tails
86.4 x 45.7 cm (34 x 18 in.)
The Marcia and John Friede Collection, a Promised Gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L05.1.425

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art PUBLICATIONS: 2005 - "This is an unusually fine example of a New Guinea textile. There are two similar unpublished examples in the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. (E41782 and E755653). Both were collected in Chimbu Province. For an example from Ialibu (Southern Highlands Province), which also has a design of repetitive diamond shapes in combination with vertical lines, as well as pig's tails attached, see Bergoldt, 1986: 86. Pig's tail aprons also occur in the Western Highlands among the Melpa people where they "are not very common, which is why not all the men wore them" (Strathern, 1971: 189). It would appear that "leading men wore aprons to which the tails of sacrificial pigs had been attached" (ibid., 189-90, based on Strauss, 1962: 242). "When worn, the apron reaches no further than the knees. It seems to be used only for kanan...Men say that they like to hear the pig's tails swish as they stamp out the kanan movement. Like all decorations, the aprons carry a message for the spectators, specifically that the dancers are prosperous and have plenty of pig meat to eat" (ibid., 94). This is in line with what the Stratherns have described as a general aim of self-decoration in the Mount Hagen area: to celebrate male vigor as an element of sexual attractiveness. To underscore that message, brightness is considered of importance for the apron." (Catalog #579, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 187.)

Related Keywords
Sporan cloth Loin Francisco San Museums Arts Fine Gift Promised Friede John Marcia Art Jolika speakers language Kewa people Oceania Highlands Southern Province Chimbu Simbu Guinea New object Ritual tails pigs' pigment orchid Dendrobium fiber Woven rack bakers 0709200406050465 A365338 L05.1.425 AOA