kulap (Ancestor Figure)

Ancestor figures, or kulap, served as a representation of recently deceased people. A kulap held the spirit of the deceased so that he or she would not wander aimlessly and perhaps cause harm to the living. It was kept in a shrine, where it remained until funerary rites conducted by men were completed. Women were not allowed access to the shrine; they had to stay outside the enclosure to mourn their lost relative. When the funerary rituals were complete and the spirit of the deceased had departed, the kulap were destroyed. During the colonial period, kulap were sold to Westerners. In the words of the donor, Frank Burnett, the use of kulap figures was as follows: “on the death of any member of a Chief's family one of the men ... goes to the bush tribe that live in the Rossel Mountains and obtains a chalk figure of either a man or a woman, according to the sex of the deceased, with which he returns to his village and with great secrecy gives it to a Chief ... by whom it is then placed in a Toberran House or Mortuary Chapel. If this is not done the spirit of the departed, being without a habitation on this earth, will haunt the survivors of its late family and inflict upon them some evil. Women are never allowed to go near or look upon these figures, it being death for them to do so."

Kulap were commissioned from specialist carvers in the Rossel Mountains of New Ireland. According to the donor, Frank Burnett, the chalk the figure is made of is found at the summit of the Rossel Mountains, it is the sole deposit of that material found in the South Pacific.

Figure representing a full length nude male. Three curves outline the hairline. High forehead creating protruding eyebrows. A triangular nose with nostrils. Ovoid eyes. Notched effect outlining the oval mouth. Notched effect around the sides of the face and the chin. From the square shoulders, the thin arms are straight at the sides until they are bent at the elbows so that the hands are touching each other at the front where they are holding an object. Has genitalia, rounded buttocks, legs with crease-pointed knees, and stubby feet. Has a metal base.