Figure, Yao; Malawi
(Lake Malawi-Ruvuma river region)
Wood, pigment, human hair, bovine teeth; H. 63 1/2"
Dr. Michael W. Conner was kind enough
to contribute the following about this figure:
Secret age-grade initiation ceremonies
(unyago, chisungu) were a key feature of
traditional education. Both boys and girls underwent
a First Initiation as they approached puberty. The
Initiation Master (or Mistress) made all the arrangements,
while the patrons (or patronesses) were in charge
of the practical training. The particulars of these
ceremonies differed widely, but all had the same
general function–to prepare youths for the
responsibilities of adulthood. Tangible objects,
including wooden and clay figurines, masks and paintings,
were used to impress important cultural information
onto the young. These objects were normally destroyed
at the close of the initiation "school,"
but there is some indication that certain rare wooden
figures were stowed away in caves and reused.
The Gelbard figure seems to represent
a stylized initiate undergoing one of the most personal
and intense of these initiations–the Initiation
of First Conception (chitumbu, or litiwo).
This figure was possibly employed, perhaps several
times a year, to tangibly inculcate social mores,
responsibilities and all information needed to prepare
the young woman for the mysteries of birth. The
sculpture effectively depicts an initiate in a state
of social distancing.
There are indisputable stylistic similarities
between the Gelbard figure and a figure collected
in 1909 from the Lake Malawi region, now owned by
the British Museum and illustrated in Hol´y
(Hol´y:1967, fig.111). The Gelbard figure is
very heavy (68 lbs.), life-size 63.5", and
is clearly not a direct copy of the smaller (36")
British Museum piece. The encircled breasts are
more flaccid; the navel is handled differently;
the hands are flat and paddle-like but turned outward;
the eyes are deep, boldly chiseled rectangles; the
teeth (buffalo?) are set only in the upper jaw;
and no hair is depicted on the Gelbard figure. There
is a little evidence of burning or pyro-engraving
as there is on the British Museum work. In fact,
the wood on the Gelbard piece has a deep reddish
tone.
The face is encrusted with layers
of various substances, the last being a thick coat
of white enamel paint which, perhaps because it
could not be absorbed by the wood, has "crawled"
heavily as it dried. Where the face paint has been
chipped, red wood and occasionally a mealy white
powder from an earlier layer (maize or cassava flour
paste?) is evident. The back is shallow and plain
with only a slight indication of the buttocks crevice.
The feet are heavy and crudely carved (one foot
has 6 or 7 toes). The figure will actually stand
with only slight propping under each heel. There
is a slight change of color in the surface immediately
below the waistline, suggesting that a skirt might
once have hidden the genital area. Human hair is
glued onto the surface with a shiny, almost clear
resin.
The British Museum piece and the Gelbard
figure are related but do not appear to have been
carved by the same artist. These two figures adhere
to similar canons of form and iconography perhaps
stipulated by the same patron–an especially
influential Yao Initiation Master (nakanga, or
namkhungwi). Initiation Masters were responsible
for commissioning and gathering together all associated
didactic paraphernalia used in important Yao initiation
ceremonies. They managed the entire community of
participants for weeks, or even months on end, and
performed simple surgical operations on the initiates.
The figure possibly functioned as a didactic tool
designed to leave an intensely memorable impression
on the initiate.
This sculpture is an authentic and
extraordinarily rare example of late nineteenth
century (c. 1890) Yao figurative carving. Not only
is this figure physically impressive, but it also
has the potential to become a renowned, classic
example of figurative art from this region.
