Gallery Label
This platter is one of two known examples with carved human figure handles. This example is female, the other, in the collection of the Musée Barbier-Müller, Geneva, is male. The carved figure most likely represents an ancestor or, possibly, a reference to the society’s earlier cannibalistic rituals, though use in social-ranking initiations was more likely.

The platter was used in ritual feasts to grind and serve traditional nalot pudding and other ceremonial vegetarian foods. Nalot is made from native taro root or breadfruit ground into a pudding for special occasions. Ritual feasts often coincided with initiation ceremonies associated with the hierarchy of social grades. Society in Vanuatu was based on different grades or ranks that were moved through with the appropriate displays of wealth. Each new grade required initiation, which included special objects and the learning of secret knowledge, both particular to each grade. The objects associated with these important festivities, which dictated the makeup of society in Vanuatu, were sacred and highly respected.

Some platters in Vanuatu were simple elongated troughs, others were made in the shape of turtles. This anthropomorphic form was found on the island of Espíritu Santo. The underside of platters also were decorated, as they were visible when the platter was hung for storage.