Gallery Label
This dish was used to mix pigments for ceremonial body paints common in the Middle Sepik River region. These paints were used to make designs on the body that pertain to certain rituals that often included the honoring of ancestors. Most pigment dishes were in animal forms, different birds, fish, or crocodiles found in the region; however, this example is of a crouching female figure. The carving is smoothly done for the figure, while the back has asymmetrical curvilinear relief carvings that are visible when the dish is not in use.
The work the artists put into the carving of this dish extends into the careful hanging storage of the dish when not in use, as well as the display of such dishes even when damaged. This reverence of a household object led scholars to believe that it represents a totemic ancestor carving. The important ceremonies requiring the mixing of paint concentrates power in the objects that facilitate these ceremonies. It was believed that the power of the spirit presence could transfer to the participants as the spirits entered first the dish, then the pigments, and ultimately the wearer of the paint.
