This is a large Asmat bis pole topper made from sago wood. It features the images of five human figures intertwined with stylized imagery of hornbill beaks, symbolising the importance of the animal in Asmat ancestral worship practices. The piece is painted entirely in a white and red mixture of paints, with white mbi used on the bodies of the figures and red wasah used in the inset accent portions. The bottom of the piece is curved where it would originally have attached to a much larger pole. The top of the piece is formed by a single human figure whose body is the beak of a hornbill. The base is comprised of two human figures looking across from one another, while the middle is comprised of two figures oriented in the same direction. There are a total of 17 hornbill beaks found in the piece.
The white paint found on the piece is called mbi, and is created by crushing and cremating mussel shells found on riverbeds. The red pigment is called wasah and is made from mixing different colors of clay found in upstream villages. Color in Asmat society is said to have magical properties, and different combinations of color are associated with such ideas as strength, fertility, and mysticism.
Bis poles are used throughout much of Asmat culture and play a vital role in ancestral worship and funerary practices. When a member of the community dies, the other members erect statues depicting the deceased and their ancestors outside the home. These carvings are traditionally done by family members and are believed to embody the spirits of the deceased’s ancestors, who protect the spirit of the deceased until their death has been avenged. Because death in Asmat society is considered to always be unnatural, headhunting raids were widely carried out prior to the late twentieth century in order to restore balance to grieving communities. Once balance had been restored, the carvings, including bis poles, would be discarded in swamps and rainforests so that the spirits could rejuvenate the sago trees which give Asmat communities life. Pieces such as this would have been placed at the top of the bis pole pointed outwards, but are not always carved as a part of the larger pole.
Colors: Brown, White, Red