CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Figure | Kulap
Human figure (female), carved from soft chalk limestone, painted red in places., um 1900
About the object
Human figure (female), carved from soft chalk limestone, painted red in places. After the death of a significant figure, kulap figures native to New Ireland were carved from chalk limestone and kept in a building especially designated for the deceased. Their function here was to act as a vessel for the soul of the deceased. It was held captive within the figure so that it could not harm the living. At the end of the funerary ceremonies, the figures were destroyed, so that the soul could finally depart the world of the living.
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Such figures - male, female or even animals - were carved after the death of a prominent personality and kept in a special building. Their function here was to act as a vessel for the soul of the deceased until the mortuary rites had been completed, so that they could do no harm to the living in the village during this period. After the soul had finally departed the world of the living, the figures were destroyed. Specialists who also had access to the only chalk limestone deposits in the Rossel Mountains on the island of New Ireland were specially commissioned to make them. Mortuary rites were abandoned as early as 1910 in the wake of the spread of Christianity, but the figures continue to be produced, albeit in poorer quality, for sale to Europeans. The object was originally part of the University Collection, which was transferred to the Municipal Museums in Freiburg on permanent loan in 1904. Author: Margarete Brüll, Translation: Timothy Connell