Naga artist (Nagaland, northeast India)
“In the Angami villages the front of the morungs and of the houses of the most eminent society members consists of a series of carved panels on which the most frequently recurring motif is the massive head of the mithun (ox). Protected by sharply protruding roofs, these majestic frontispieces remind the community of the grandeur of the Feasts of Merit and of the power of the families who celebrated them. The Feasts of Merit constitute along with headhunting the basis of Naga ethics and social life. They consist in a series of ceremonies, progressively more lavish and socially important, and culminate in the sacrifice of a mithun. Through the Feasts of Merit a wealthy man transmits his own fertility, proof of which is his wealth, to the members of the community offering meat, rice, and beer and receiving in turn merit and social prestige.”
—citation from The Nagas catalog, Lorenzell Gallery, Italy
76″ high x 25″ wide x 8″ deep
$8,000
