DOI issue:
No. 62 (April, 1902)
DOI article:Praetorius, Charles J.: Decorative art in New Guinea, 1
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22773#0119
Decorative Art in New Guinea
wood-carving tools : two stone
AXE HEADS, A SHELL ADZE, A
DRILL, TWO SHARK-SKIN FILES,
AND TWO SHELL SCRAPERS
On round the edges ot wooden food-bowls and
c0rn^atU^a Indies. Some of the very best examples
are C ^r°m t'le Trobriand islands, where the natives
js r'oted for their skill in carving. When an attempt
to cover a large surface with a design, the
ls not so good as in the narrow bands.
The frigate-
bird, which is so
favourite a motive
for native orna-
ment, is the sa-
cred bird of the
Western Pacific.
It is sometimes
known as the sea-
morant. Symmetri-
cal in appearance, with enormous and powerful
wings, it is capable of long sustained flights; the
pectoral muscles weigh one-fourth part of the whole
body, and the wings expanded measure as much as
eight feet from tip to tip.
This sacred bird prefers to live by plunder, and
steals food from industrious sea birds, such as gannets
and sea swallows, who, when returning from a day’s
fishing, are often so gorged that their beaks will
not close. The frigate-bird swoops down on them
and compels them to drop some of their catch,
and before the fish has time to fall into the sea it is
skilfully caught by the sacred robber.
This bird is carved and drawn in an endless
variety of ways, the head, beak, and neck being
constantly used as a repeating scroll pattern. In
nature the beak is a good curved shape, and lends
itself to the purpose. The two long implements
with carved handles (p. ioo) were used for stir-
ring sago,. The handle of No. i is 13J inches
long. The subject of the carving is a figure sur-
rounded by a number of birds, which are arranged
in pairs in a conventional tapering design ending
in a single bird at the top. The composition is
good and free from the formality of absolute
symmetry. The figure, which is not so well done
as the birds, is possibly a deity in some way con-
nected with the flock of birds.
The second stirrer is from the Teste Islands.
The handle is carved with a more conventional
arrangement of one large bird with many small
ones. The junction of shaft and blade is carved
with a very strange form of bird ornament, which
some anthropologists would term a degeneration
from the original motive—a theory which is ques-
tionable. Simplification does not necessarily mean
degeneration.
Betel-nut chewing, a widespread habit among
Orientals, is much indulged in by the Papuans.
The nut is the fruit of the areca, or betel-palm,
which is cultivated and the nuts collected chiefly
for the purpose of chewing. A small piece of the
nut is wrapped in a leaf of the pepper plant; the
mastication causes a copious flow of saliva of a
99
wood-carving tools : two stone
AXE HEADS, A SHELL ADZE, A
DRILL, TWO SHARK-SKIN FILES,
AND TWO SHELL SCRAPERS
On round the edges ot wooden food-bowls and
c0rn^atU^a Indies. Some of the very best examples
are C ^r°m t'le Trobriand islands, where the natives
js r'oted for their skill in carving. When an attempt
to cover a large surface with a design, the
ls not so good as in the narrow bands.
The frigate-
bird, which is so
favourite a motive
for native orna-
ment, is the sa-
cred bird of the
Western Pacific.
It is sometimes
known as the sea-
morant. Symmetri-
cal in appearance, with enormous and powerful
wings, it is capable of long sustained flights; the
pectoral muscles weigh one-fourth part of the whole
body, and the wings expanded measure as much as
eight feet from tip to tip.
This sacred bird prefers to live by plunder, and
steals food from industrious sea birds, such as gannets
and sea swallows, who, when returning from a day’s
fishing, are often so gorged that their beaks will
not close. The frigate-bird swoops down on them
and compels them to drop some of their catch,
and before the fish has time to fall into the sea it is
skilfully caught by the sacred robber.
This bird is carved and drawn in an endless
variety of ways, the head, beak, and neck being
constantly used as a repeating scroll pattern. In
nature the beak is a good curved shape, and lends
itself to the purpose. The two long implements
with carved handles (p. ioo) were used for stir-
ring sago,. The handle of No. i is 13J inches
long. The subject of the carving is a figure sur-
rounded by a number of birds, which are arranged
in pairs in a conventional tapering design ending
in a single bird at the top. The composition is
good and free from the formality of absolute
symmetry. The figure, which is not so well done
as the birds, is possibly a deity in some way con-
nected with the flock of birds.
The second stirrer is from the Teste Islands.
The handle is carved with a more conventional
arrangement of one large bird with many small
ones. The junction of shaft and blade is carved
with a very strange form of bird ornament, which
some anthropologists would term a degeneration
from the original motive—a theory which is ques-
tionable. Simplification does not necessarily mean
degeneration.
Betel-nut chewing, a widespread habit among
Orientals, is much indulged in by the Papuans.
The nut is the fruit of the areca, or betel-palm,
which is cultivated and the nuts collected chiefly
for the purpose of chewing. A small piece of the
nut is wrapped in a leaf of the pepper plant; the
mastication causes a copious flow of saliva of a
99