“Kandimboang”, carved wooden rain charm, translates to male spirit figurine, also known as bukámorom elsewhere along the Sepik.
Donor:
Richard Thurnwald
Collection place:
Töpfer River, Madang Province Papua New Guinea
Culture or time period:
Tjimundo
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works)
Function:
5.2 Magic: Objects Associated with Practices reflecting confidence in the ability to manipulate supernatural agencies
Accession date:
1915
Context of use:
These are carved exclusively by fathers for their son(s) who use them as part of a love charm by finding a liana with water in its trunk and using the bark as part of the charm. The water can be drunk but it is used to soak the figure before being wrapped in the bark along with areca berry. As a love charm, it is assembled by boys who expect the charm to attract a girl.
Department:
Oceania
Comment:
Lipset, David. "Dead Canoes: The Fate of Agency in Twentieth-Century Murik Art." Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice 49, no. 1 (2005): 109-140. (de) Thurnwald, Richard, 1869-1954. Die Gemeinde Der Bánaro; Ehe, Verwandtschaft Und Gesellschaftsbau Eines Stammes Im Innern Von Neu-Guinea. Aus Den Ergebnissen Einer Forschungsreise 1913-15. Germany: 1921. (en) Memoirs of the AAA The Idea of Fertilization in the Culture of the Pueblo Indians. 1916. By H. K. Haeberlin. Vol. 3 pt. 1
Loans:
S1957-1960 [XXX Wellington]: University Art Museum (UC Berkeley) (1957–1960), S1958-1959 #4: Winfield Scott Wellington (April 3, 1959–unknown), S1965-1966 #51: California State University, East Bay (January 7, 1965–February 5, 1966), S1966-1967 #60: Design Department (UC Berkeley) (January 20, 1967–February 3, 1967), and S1969-1970 #114: Design Department (UC Berkeley)/Lucretia Nelson (April 14, 1970–July 2, 1970)