Malagan Memorial Festival Pole (1800s): Art, History and Details

Malagan Memorial Festival Pole (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

At the death of an important individual in New Ireland society, villagers begin preparations for an elaborate funeral (malagan) ceremony. Food is collected for feasts, and artists are commissioned to carve elaborate sculptures and masks. Neighboring groups are invited to the ceremonies, which last for days and include speeches, dancing, music, feasts, and exchanges of goods. The ceremonies climax in the display of the elaborately carved, brightly painted art works. After the guests' departure, the malagan sculptures and masks are discarded, or sometimes stored.

Object facts

• Title: Malagan Memorial Festival Pole
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Melanesia, New Ireland, 19th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: painted wood, sea snail opercula
• Dimensions: Overall: 92.7 cm (36 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1971.149

Collection credit

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Munro

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.