Arts of the Pacific and Pacific Rim at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Arts of the Pacific and Pacific Rim at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Curated by Steven G. Alpert
This month's journey will take us to Canada, where there are important museum collections. We decided to do our initial foray into a Canadian museum by introducing items from the holdings of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from their Pacific and Pacific Rim collections. Founded in 1860, the MMFA is Canada's oldest museum. To directly quote its collecting statement, the MMFA aims "to acquire, conserve, study, interpret and present significant works of art from around the world and from every era, in the hope that members of its community and all Museum visitors may benefit from the transformative powers of art."
The first item illustrated is a carved and colored feasting platter from Lake Sentani in Indonesia's far eastern province of Papua. It is carved with repetitive, undulating shapes that, when aggregated, form mellifluous patterns reminiscent of those seen on the house planks, wooden pillars, and the well-known bark cloth paintings of the Maro painters of Lake Sentani and Humboldt Bay from the 1920s-1930s. This particular platter was gifted to the museum in 1949. Its size, more than fifty-one inches in length (132.2 cm), most likely suggests that it was intended for dishing up communally eaten foods such as pepado, a ceremonial dish of coagulated sago starch and fish that is served in a rich turmeric broth. The integration of avian and aquatic designs here reflects the lake-dweller's veneration of this stunning spirit-filled (by their own accounts) body of water.
Another ceremonial vessel is a superb bowl from the Admiralty Islands (purukei). Such bowls were highly coveted and said to have originated as a clan totem of the Matankol people of the island of Lou. Older examples (this particular one was acquired before 1953) can be beautifully shaped and smoothed with the separately carved handles affixed with a paste made from the pairnarium nut. The process is finished by intensely rubbing these items with coconut oil. Purukei were further enhanced over time by contact with interior house smoke and usage, which sometimes resulted in the creation of highly polished, smooth, yet deep surfaces. This type of bowl was carried about during wedding processions and was a form of dowry payment. Beyond marriage, they were brought out for specific ceremonies, including funerals, festivals, and feasts. Its two finely carved spiraling lugs or appended handles rise like the curving prow and stern ornaments of the islander's canoes, which, with its four raised feet, give this stylish bowl its archetypal, timeless look. Here, beauty and practicality become harmoniously combined in an iconic serving vessel. Other items from nearby islands include two excellent masks. The first is an unusual kepong mask from New Ireland of a type that was danced by male relatives of the deceased during cycles of memorial celebrations. Men's secret societies there were mainly concerned with ceremonies that were preoccupied with or connected to the cult of the dead, which was and still is punctuated by ingeniously carved creations and masked dances. Another face covering that embodies the spirit of a mythical being is a wooden Ramu River area mask from New Guinea. Known as brag masks, these were traditionally kept hidden, secreted within the confines of men's houses, but taken out and danced when commemorating the erection of a new house or exposed during initiation rights and funeral celebrations.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts also hosts a number of Polynesian objects. Three New Zealand Maori wooden items of merit are illustrated below. They include a ceremonial feeding funnel (korere), an elaborately carved ceremonial canoe paddle (waka hoe), and a fine door lintel (pare). The funnel, dating to the early 19th century, was used to feed a person during and after receiving facial tattoos or moko. The head is where one's mana or personal and supernatural powers reside. Traditionally, it is tapu (the origin of the English word taboo) to touch someone's head. When a high-ranking person's face was being tattooed (moko), the essence of everything Maori; notions of their social standing, their supernatural powers, one's genealogy, and personal history needed to be vigilantly protected. Korere, as with many now-decontextualized items on this site, were, above all, imminently practical. Consuming liquid nutrition after this painful experience makes sense, as the one being tattooed would have had a swollen face and a sore mouth. Events surrounding receiving a moko were considered a crossroad where physical and spiritual vigilance was necessary to pass unscathed from a fraught period of vulnerability and metamorphosis to a new, more powerful state of being.
The canoe paddle is also intricately carved. It is thought, according to museum notes, to perhaps be the work of the famous Rotorua carver, Anaha Te Rahui (1822-1913), and done around ca 1900. There is a long history of paddles being carved for ceremonial use, presentation, and exchange, which, from a European perspective, dates back to Captain Cook's first visit there in 1769. The final Maori item is a lintel or pare that reflects the sanctity of crossing the threshold of a community's meeting house. The communal house on a marae is where rites of passage and ancestral remembrance occur, as well as other important social and political activities, all of which still take place in these often magnificent structures. This lintel carved around 1840 is said to represent with its central figure the first female ancestor of the Ngāi Te Ipu of Ngāti Kahungunu people of Whakaki (east of Wairoa on New Zealand's North Island) and is a very fine, energetic example of the genre. Rounding out material from Polynesia is an intact Marquesas Island tahi'i or hand fan with an intricately carved wooden handle depicting stacked tiki figures. Beautifully decorated fans, or their equivalent, the fly whisks found on other Polynesian islands, were once symbols of reigning authority and high social status. The carved wood 'lizard man' (moai tangata moko) from Easter Island is considered to be a protective guardian figure. (no. 10) They were hung in houses or suspended near their entryway, as well as purportedly worn during specific dances and ceremonial rites. They share with wooden human figures (moai kava), an exposed skeletal vertebrae, a symbol that recalls one's unbroken connection to their ancestral line. Both the fan and the lizard man are typical of the pieces that entered the museum in the 1950s, many from the F. Cleveland Morgan Bequest, and that are uniformly of excellent quality.
The MMFA also has a representative collection of pre-Columbian material from Mesoamerica and the west coast of South America. Earthen slip ware includes the likes of an emotive Jalisco kneeling female figure in the Ameca-Etzatlán-style that flourished during the late Pre-classic to Early Classic period (400 B.C.E.-600 C.E.). Two early Paracas earthenware ceramics from the South coast of Peru include a mask that appears to be in the guise of a fox and a marvelous bowl featuring an array of repeating feline figures. Both are charmingly incised and painted with polychrome resin-based pigments that were applied after firing in a reduction kiln. It is this multi-tiered process that confers to these ceramics their waxy, richly raised surfaces that give Paracas ware its conspicuous look.
A number of the pre-Columbian tapestry woven textiles of spun cotton and camelid wool are conserved in the MMFA and are nothing less than miracles of survival. Their antiquity, rich palette of colors, fantastical designs, and cosmovisions never cease to amaze museum audiences. A large and complete Paracas mantle (ca 500 B.C.E - 300 C.E.) is illustrated below, populated with anthropomorphic figures that fly or dance across an expansive indigo ground. Another outstanding textile from the MMFA's collection is a still vibrant fragment from a Lambayeque (Sicán) mantle from the north coast of Peru. Its imagery is a striking construct of elaborately bedecked figures with huge feathered headdresses. Additionally, a stunning Nasca (500-700 AD) poncho from the south coast is included for its dynamic design, pristine condition, and rich palette of natural colors. Museum notes state that "The sources of (these) pigments are vegetable (marigold for orange; the indigo plant, and yangua for the blues)." The latter shade is from a dye extracted from the xylem or woody fibers of the yangua tree. The aforementioned textiles entered the museum in the 1940s and arguably reflect a global pinnacle of the textile traditions that have survived the ravages of time and the shifting sands of history.
A Pan-Pacific or Pacific Rim compilation would not be complete in world museum settings without noting the artistic contributions of the diverse communities of Inuit and Northwest Coast peoples inhabiting Alaska and Canada. Canadian museums are large repositories for both contemporary and historical material from this area's geography of Indigenous peoples. Five historical items from the MMFA's collection are illustrated. They range from excellent 19th-century examples of a Tsimshian shaman's raven rattle to a Nisga'a dancing blanket (Gwiis Halayt). The latter are often generically referred to as 'Chilkat blankets". They are said to have originated with the Tsimshian and then spread as a tradition through marriage and trade. However, the Chilkat Tlingit of Alaska further developed the blanket's interlocking totemic designs that became so greatly admired and desired in this region and beyond. They are woven from strands of mountain goat wool spun over a cord of cedar bark string.
Of a more singular nature is a late 19th-century Kaigani Haida or Tlingit crested helmet of a type once paraded or danced during potlatch festivities or worn on other ceremonial occasions. It reflects one's clan affiliation(s), which are generally coupled with specific, grandly represented animals or even certain plants that linked each house and family to a legendary ancestor, protector, keeper of myths, ritual practices, and accumulated knowledge. Animals, such as the raven, whale, frog, fish, wolf, or bear, were thus so embodied and honored. Here the raven, humankind's creator, benefactor, trickster, and the gift-giver of the sun, is gloriously perched atop a fish whose expressive mouth, spiny dorsal fin, and raised brows are offset with affixed copperplate cutouts. 'Potlatch' is a word that has entered our own lexicon but originated here. It is when families exhibit their riches, noble status, and totemic connections to further celebrate their identity, alliances, and social ties. Inherent to pot latching is not only its grand displays, recounting, feasting, and dancing but the actual sharing and distributing of wealth to achieve or realize those aims.
Another finely crafted 19th-century headpiece or frontlet (Amhalayt) is the distinctive work of a Tsimshian artist. Here, an expressive face is crafted from applied pigments and exposed raw wood, while the mouth and eyes are inlaid with a brilliantly reflective abalone shell. The mask's being is further surrounded and framed by shell plaques set like shimmering emanations or rays. Between each plaque is a thin line of exposed wood ending in a circular encasing that admirably frames the entire composition. A final offering is a small, well-carved Tlingit model of a house post from the Raven House of Klukwan, Alaska. It depicts a kneeling, semi-prostate figure with exposed ribs and tufted hair perched atop a carved bentwood treasure chest. Behind the figure, the bulk of the post rises and flares to mimic the shape of a large ceremonial copper or ritual currency that is further decorated with totemic designs. This piece is well-carved and would have been created around 1850. It was most likely made for trade, which is a reminder of the exchanges of materials and craftsmanship that resulted in the creation of such items, further displaying Tlingit's own cultural depth, adaptability, and genius.
As many of our readers may know firsthand, Canada is a land of vast beauty populated with many diverse communities. As such, the historical and contemporary art housed in its museums is not only a respectful paean to world art but a gateway to much that one invariably admires about this remarkable nation.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
1
Ceremonial Platter
Lake Sentani, Province of Papua, Indonesia
Early to mid 20th century
Wood pigments
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1949.Pc.8
2
Brag Mask
Lower Ramu, Papua New Guinea
Murik peoples
Before 1957
Wood, pigment, vegetable fibre
Purchase, gift of James Morgan, inv. 1957.Pc.1
3
Kepong Mask
Northern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
Mid to late 19th century
Wood, pigments, vegetable fibre, turban shell opercula
Purchase, gift of Dr. J. Douglas Morgan, inv. 1952.Pc.6
4
Ceremonial Dish
Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea
Matankol peoples
Before 1953
Wood, traces of pigment, parinarium nut paste
Purchase, inv. 1953.Pc.10
5
Ceremonial Funnel | Korere
New Zealand (Aoteroa), Southwest North Island
Maori peoples
Early 19th century
Wood, mother-of-pearl inlays
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1959.Pc.8
6
Ceremonial Canoe Paddle | Waka Hoe
Anaha Te Rahui
Rotorua, New Zealand, 1822 – Rotorua 1913
About 1900
Wood, mother-of-pearl inlays
Ernest Gagnon Collection, gift of the Province du Canada français de la Compagnie de Jésus, inv. 1975.Pc.55
7
Hei Tiki Pendant
New Zealand (Aoteroa), North Island, Taranaki Region
Maori peoples
18th century
Nephrite, vegetable fibre, bone, mother-of-pearl inlays
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1955.Pc.6
8
Door Lintel | Pare
New Zealand (Aoteroa), North Island, Whakaki
Maori peoples
About 1840
Wood, mother-of-pearl inlays
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1956.Pc.4
9
Fan | Tahi'i
Marquesas Islands
Polynesia
Late 19th century
Carved wood, woven fibre
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1956.Pc.7
10
Lizardman Carved Figure | Moai Tangata Moko
Easter Island
Rapa Nui
Before 1962
Wood
F. Cleveland Morgan Bequest, inv. 1962.Pc.6
11
Fox Mask
Peru, South Coast, possibly Oasis of Ocucaje
Paracas
200 B.C.E.-50 C.E.
Earthenware, incised and resin-based painted decoration
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1948.Ad.32
12
Mantle Fragment with Anthropomorphic Figures
Peru, North Coast
Middle Horizon (550-1000 C.E.)
Lambayeque (Sicán)
750-1375
Camelid wool, cotton
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1948.Ad.35
13
Poncho
Peru, South Coast
Nasca
500-700 C.E.
Cotton and camelid wool tapestry
Purchase, D. W. Parker Fund, inv. 1948.Ad.45
14
Bowl featuring Spotted Felines
Peru, South Coast, possibly Oasis of Ocucaje
Paracas
500-400 B.C.E.
Earthenware, incised and polychrome resin-based painted decoration
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1948.Ad.31
15
Mantle with Anthropomorphic Figures
Peru, South Coast
Early Intermediate Period (200 B.C.E.-700 C.E.)
Paracas Necropolis
200 B.C.E.-300 C.E.
Embroidered camelid wool
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1947.Ad.19
16
Ameca-Etzatlán-style Kneeling Female Figure
Mexico, Central Jalisco
Late Preclassic period to Early Classic period (400 B.C.E.-600 C.E.)
Jalisco
300 B.C.E.-200 C.E.
Earthenware, slip
Gift of Rollande and Jean-Claude Bertounesque in honour of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' 150th anniversary, inv. 2010.564
17
Model of a House Post from the Raven House
Northwest Coast, Alaska, Klukwan
Tlingit
About 1850
Wood, human hair, paint
Purchase, gift of Dr. J. Douglas Morgan, inv. 1952.Ab.1
18
Crest Helmet
Northwest Coast, Alaska
Kaigani Haida or Tlingit
Late 19th century
Wood, copper, nails, cotton, deerskin, pigment
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1946.Ab.3
19
Dancing Blanket | Gwiis Halayt
Northwest Coast, Alaska
Nisga’a
19th century
Mountain-goat wool, inner cedar bark
Gift of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, inv. 1919.Ab.2
20
Raven Rattle
Northwest Coast, British Columbia
Tsimshian
About 1870
Wood, pigment
Purchase, William Gilman Cheney Bequest, inv. 1962.Ab.2
21
Frontlet | Amhalayt
Northwest Coast, British Columbia
Tsimshian
About 1880
Painted wood, abalone shell
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1958.Ab.1
All artworks and images presented in this feature are the property of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
© Montreal Museum of Fine Arts