Art of the Torres Strait Islands in the British Museum
Art of the Torres Strait Islands in the British Museum
Curated by Steven G. Alpert
In this feature, Art of the Ancestors takes distinct pleasure in showcasing material stewarded by the British Museum from the islands of the Torres Strait. Geographically, the area delineated as the Torres Strait Islands comprises 274 small islands (16 are inhabited) that serve as stepping stones between New Guinea and Australia's Cape York Peninsula. The islanders are more akin to 'Melanesian' peoples culturally and ethnically and are generally quite different from 'Aboriginal' Australians. Their surviving 19th-century artwork centered around initiation and coming-of-age practices, in addition to items associated with fertility, hunting magic, and funeral rites where myths were reenacted and heroic events recounted.
The most iconic objects from this area, particularly the southern islands, are remarkably fashioned masks (Buk, Krar, or Kara). These were crafted from carefully cut and fitted pieces of polished tortoiseshell that were sewn and lashed together to create theatrical effigies and masks that were complex creations. The final composite creations were often decorated with feathers, shells, wooden bits, clappers, and seed rattles. There are few masking traditions to rival these complex masks. They often display ingenuity and imagination that one can rarely find in masking traditions outside of a few Papuan groups, the Sulka of New Britain, Malangan arts from New Ireland, the Pacific Northwest Coast peoples, and some Inuit traditions.
The Spanish explorers Prado and Torres, the first Europeans to arrive there in 1606, recorded the use of masks decorated in this manner as already part of a well-developed tradition. Some of the more complex masks are combinations of distended creatures, such as fish, sharks, crocodiles, or avians, that are sometimes topped with a well-articulated human face. They are also carved from the shells of tortoises. Surfaces were often further engraved with interlocking geometric or flowing designs and are generally finely finished. The more realistic-looking masks with elongated faces and long earlobes were usually associated with funeral ceremonies. Whether crafted from tortoise shells or wood, they often ingeniously feature wrapped or matted human hair or coir to accent their coiffure and beard to add further allure to an already dramatic appearance. Other masks, sometimes with bodies, were once part of shrines for initiates decorated with trophy skulls. Some groups, such as those from Mer (Murray) Island, were greatly feared as sea-faring headhunters.
The British Museum holds a fine array of these masks, of which ten are illustrated here. In the second half of the 19th century, between the activities of the London Missionary Society, colonial traders and officers, and a Cambridge-sponsored expedition led by Alfred Haddon (also well-known to aficionados of Iban Dayak textiles), artifacts from the Torres Strait Islands entered the collection of the British Museum and many other reputable institutions worldwide. In Europe, remarkable examples of the genre are located in the German museum system, in Switzerland at the Musée Barbier-Mueller and Museum Rietberg as well as found in an institutional gamut running from Dublin to St. Petersburg. There are also many stellar examples of these masks in Australian museums. The most famous example in the United States is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Masks from the Torres Strait Islands are also housed in unexpected locations, including the de Young Museum, Penn Museum, the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Toledo Art Museums.
Also included here from the British Museum's holdings are two stone charms. One is of a dugong (a sea cow), while the other is a human figure fashioned from coral. Both were collected by Haddon in 1889. The former would have been used in hunting and fertility magic, while the latter (according to Haddon's notes) was "placed close to the fire when people left their home, and the 'lamar' or spirit was supposed to mind the fire and see that it did not go out." Another well-known charm is a squatting eight-inch wooden figure that was said to have been used by men to conjure up love magic so that girls would fall for them (Moore: 1984). Haddon's diary also contains drawings of this piece where he noted that it "came from the island of Masig (Masid)." Free-standing figures range from small charms like this one to being nearly life-sized. These entries demonstrate a wide range of creativity that emerged from within a very limited geographic area and one that could only support small populations of islanders.
During the period of conversion and acculturation, beginning in the 1870s, most artifacts used in traditional ceremonies ceased to be produced. Today, there is both the revival of traditional mediums and forms and a creative Renaissance of music, dance and the contemporary plastic arts. The British Museum has nearly 1,000 traditional items from the Torres Strait Islands online. Many entries are accompanied by descriptive text and 19th-century documentation, making for an armchair voyage of exploring, edification, and visual delight.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
1
Zoomorphic Mask
19th century
Turtle-shell, shell, cassowary feather, seed pod, fiber
Purchased from Sir Wilfred Peek
Previously owned by Sir Cuthbert Edgar Peek
Oc1926,-.95
2
Zoomorphic Mask
19th century — before 1886
Turtle shell, cassowary feather, cowrie shell, ovulum ovum shell, mother-of-pearl, fiber
Field collected by Rev Samuel Macfarlane
Donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
Purchased through Edward Gerrard & Sons
Oc,+.3278
3
Photographic Print of Zoomorphic Mask
Black and white photograph from an album depicting a ceremonial turtle-shell mask
Mid-20th-century
Gelatin silver print
Oc,A69.119
4
Photographic Print of Zoomorphic Mask
Black and white photograph from an album depicting a ceremonial fish shaped mask, made from turtle-shell and feathers
Mid-20th-century
Gelatin silver print
Oc,A69.120
5
Mask
Before 1870
Turtle-shell, gum, mother-of-pearl, shell, wool?, coix seed, fiber
Field collected by William T Kennett
Donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
Oc.6917
6
Dance Mask
19th century — before 1889
Wood, turtle shell, cassowary feather, nut (goa nut)
Stated to have been made by Kuduma of Muralag in Moa and taken to Nagir.
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.74
7
Mask
19th century — before 1846
Turtle-shell, wood, human hair, pearl shell, fiber
Donated by Joseph Beete Jukes
Previously owned by the Museum of Practical Geology
Oc1846,0731.3
8
Mask
19th century — before 1885
Wood, shell, fiber, hair
Field collected by Rev Samuel Macfarlane
Donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
Purchased through Edward Gerrard & Sons
Oc,+.2491
9
Mask
19th century
Wood, metal, shell, vegetable fiber, red wool, pigment
Purchased from Sir Wilfred Peek
Oc1926,-.94
10
Female Dugong Charm Figure | Dangal
19th century — before 1889
Stone, coir (coconut fiber), ochre (natural pigment)
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.184
11
Figurative Charm | Bager
19th century — before 1889
Coral
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.185
12
Figurative Love Charm | Neur Madub
19th century — before 1889
Wood, mother-of-pearl, fiber
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.172
13
Figurative Love Charm | Neur Madub
19th century — before 1889
Wood
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.170
14
Female Figure
19th century — before 1889
Wood, mother-of-pearl, human hair, wool, fiber
Donated by Sir Harry John Veitch
Oc1889,1205.78
15
Two Human Figures
19th century — before 1865
Wood, rush?, bast?, hair (presumed human), cotton?, vegetable fiber, coix seed, mother-of-pearl, cone shell
Donated by Julius Lucius Brenchley
Oc.6537
16
Figure
19th century — prior to 1845
Turtle shell, fiber, hair
Found apparently unregistered in Ethnography Department Oceania collections.
Donated by Alfred Fowler?
Oc1998,Q.25.a-h
17
Figurative Garden Charm | Sokop Madub
19th century — before 1889
Wood, pigments
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.176
18
Human Figure
19th century — before 1886
Wood, shell, fiber
Field collected by Rev Samuel Macfarlane
Donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
Purchased through Edward Gerrard & Sons
Oc,+.3279
19
Drum
Drum
© The Trustees of the British Museum
19th century — before 1889
Wood, seed, cassowary feather, shell, fiber, nut
Donated by Prof Alfred Cort Haddon
Oc,89+.189
All artworks and images presented in this feature are the property of the British Museum.
© The Trustees of the British Museum