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artist
Seated Figure, early 20th century
Wood, fiber, shell, pigments
51.4 x 48.3 x 27.9 cm (20 1/4 x 19 x 11 in.)
Gift of Edward and Mina Smith 2005.167

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: Sotheby's, 1985; Ex-Zollman Collection PUBLICATIONS: 2009 FAM Bulletin entry (unabridged) - "Seated with her left leg extended and her right sharply bent at the knee this unusually naturalistic sculpture of a young woman comes from the Vella or Lavella an island lying west of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. The function of this piece is unknown however the naturalistic qualities suggest she is a representation of an actual person rather than a spirit. A great majority of these types of sculptures were probably made for sale in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (1) Frank Burnett a Canadian writer and traveler recorded during a stay in New Georgia Islands in 1991 that “there are only two men left in the group who now do this kind of work (naturalistic carving), which is really most artistic.” (2) Characteristic of the Solomons, this seated figure is painted black with unpainted hair and inlaid mother-of-pearl face decoration. (3) In contrast to the black background, the white facial ornamentation gives off a jewel-like shimmer and represents mbúsapunderi, thin lines commonly painted on the face of men and women using lime. (4) These elegant lines are usually drawn in three curving above the eyebrows, across the cheek, and around the jawbone. Boyle T. Somerville who was in Roviana in 1897 recalled that “[the painted lines] seemed to be considered part of full dress.” (5) Natural fiber is woven into the scalp to make realistic looking hair reflecting turn of the century hairstyle cut short and rigorously bleached with lime. (6) Seated with cupped hands possibly once holding a staff, wearing carved armlets, large circular earrings, and a red fiber band around the left arm, this piece shares natural characteristics with Standing female of a young lady (7) also included in this bulletin (include page #). (8)" FOOTNOTES (1) Waite, Deborah, Art of the Solomon Islands from the Collection of Barbier-Muller Museum (Geneva: Musee Barbier-Mueller, 1983). Acquisition statement, Dec. 4 2005. (2) Acquisition statement, Dec. 4 2005; OAS Newsletter Vol. 12 No. 2, 6. (3) Gathercole, Peter, Adrienne Kaeppler, and Douglas Newton, Pacific Islands (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1979), 50. (4) Somerville, Boyle T., “Enthographical Notes in New Georgia, Solomon Islands,” The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 26 (1897): 365. Gathercole, The Pacific Islands, 50. (5) Somerville, Ethnographic Notes, 365. (6) ibid, 365. (7) 1996.80 (8) Sotheby's sale 5-16-85 Ex -Zollman Collection.

Related Keywords
Smith Mina Edward Gift Zollman Ex 1985 Sotheby's Oceania Lavella Vella island Islands Solomon Melanesia Sculpture pigments shell fiber Wood lime using women men commonly lines thin mbœsapunderi represents background contrast ornamentation facial White decoration face pearl mother inlaid hair unpainted black painted figure Seated 0813200812330011 A375141 2005.167 AOA