Orator's Chair with White Painted Face
Dublin Core
Title
Orator's Chair with White Painted Face
Creator Biography
New Guinea, Oceania
Culture
Iatmul culture
Place Made
New Guinea
Description
While the Iatmul Orator's "Chair" mat resemble a small chair, it is never used by any live person as a seat. Also known as a "speaking chair," this object is used during speeches and debates to keep track of each speaker's main points, and it is thought to serve as the place for, and to represent the presence of, an important ancestor who would witness a specific speech or debate.
During a speech, the speaker stands next to the Orator's "Chair," and with each point that he makes, the speaker hits the "seat" with various types of flora, such as palm-lily leaves or kawa leaves; then the speaker sets that sprig on the seat to represent his point. When the speaker has finished placing his flora on the seat, he has made all of his points and has concluded his speech; at that time, if there is opposition, the opposing side may speak. Speeches or debates may center on myths, stories, kinship or clan history, village history or movements and migrations of ancestors, property agreements, current events, arguments, and disputes. Once all points have been made by both sides, the community leader deliberates and makes a final decision, if there is one to be made.
The Orator's "Chair" is one of the traditional furnishings in the men's ceremonial house, a structure found in each Iatmul community that is exclusive to adult, initiated men. The men's house is divided into two separate spaces, the upper space and the lower space. The upper space, accessible by ladder, is the sacred space; the lower space, meanwhile, is open on both ends, and this is where ceremonial objects like the Orator's "Chair" are kept. Some Orator's "Chairs" have an entire human-like figure on the back of the "chair," while others have only a human-like head. While the specific form, decoration, style, and size of the Orator's "Chair" varies from place to place, however, each community's "chair" has the same basic chair shape and a large face that forms the back of the "chair."
Katie McElfresh, 2011, Missouri State University student
During a speech, the speaker stands next to the Orator's "Chair," and with each point that he makes, the speaker hits the "seat" with various types of flora, such as palm-lily leaves or kawa leaves; then the speaker sets that sprig on the seat to represent his point. When the speaker has finished placing his flora on the seat, he has made all of his points and has concluded his speech; at that time, if there is opposition, the opposing side may speak. Speeches or debates may center on myths, stories, kinship or clan history, village history or movements and migrations of ancestors, property agreements, current events, arguments, and disputes. Once all points have been made by both sides, the community leader deliberates and makes a final decision, if there is one to be made.
The Orator's "Chair" is one of the traditional furnishings in the men's ceremonial house, a structure found in each Iatmul community that is exclusive to adult, initiated men. The men's house is divided into two separate spaces, the upper space and the lower space. The upper space, accessible by ladder, is the sacred space; the lower space, meanwhile, is open on both ends, and this is where ceremonial objects like the Orator's "Chair" are kept. Some Orator's "Chairs" have an entire human-like figure on the back of the "chair," while others have only a human-like head. While the specific form, decoration, style, and size of the Orator's "Chair" varies from place to place, however, each community's "chair" has the same basic chair shape and a large face that forms the back of the "chair."
Katie McElfresh, 2011, Missouri State University student
Century
20th
Item Dimensions
63 cm h x 20 cm w x 29 cm d
Medium
sculpture
Materials
wood, shell, & pigment
Techniques
carving
Provenance
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Morton D. May, 1967
Acession Number
1971.154
Accession Year
1971
Photo Number
20110069