女性形象（'oua fefine） - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	女性形象（'oua fefine）
品名（英）	Female figure (’otua fefine)
入馆年号	1979年，1979.206.1470
策展部门	迈克尔·洛克菲勒之翼（The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing）
创作者
创作年份	公元 1800 - 公元 1840
创作地区	汤加（Tonga）
分类	骨骼/象牙雕刻（Bone/Ivory-Sculpture）
尺寸	高 5 1/4 英寸 × 宽 2 英寸 × 深 1 1/2 英寸 (13.3 × 5.1 × 3.8 厘米)
介绍（中）	来自汤加哈派群岛的鲸鱼象牙雕像，其雕塑力量掩盖了其适度的规模。这些图像几乎完全是女性的，被称为‘toa fefine，这是一个用来描述被尊为神的杰出女性祖先的术语这个引人注目的例子是用抹香鲸抛光牙齿的奶油核心雕刻而成的。该人物的蜂蜜色光泽是通过在ti植物（Cordyline fruticose）的闷烧含糖块茎上吸烟，然后用油摩擦而获得的。这不仅突出了象牙的自然纹理（使其呈现出浓郁的红色，这是其美学的一个重要元素），由此产生的表面微光也传达了神圣之光的本质。这件引人注目的雕刻作品的创作者将材料加工成了壮观的效果，他选择将鲸鱼象牙的纹理对准人物的中心，使人物的膝盖和肚脐发出精细的同心圆，并点缀在她的下半部分脸上。经过精心加工的切口形成了一系列凸起的山脊，勾勒出了她的面部细节，包括眉毛、一双闭着的眼睛和整齐的鼻子。小而半闭的嘴给人一种平静、宁静和休息的整体印象身材健壮，体格健壮，胸部圆润，三角形头部突出，轮廓分明，下巴有力，突出到脖子和肩膀上。她强壮的手臂和扁平的手掌构成了她的身体，包含了体内重要能量的力量。这种轻柔弯曲的姿态是汤加群岛中心的哈派群岛雕刻风格的典型代表。原始鲸鱼牙齿的自然轮廓可以通过人物向左侧轻轻倾斜时紧凑身体的角度来确定。左臂上的一个小鲸鱼象牙钉是几个世纪前的原始修复品。这些雕像被树皮布包裹（涂有黄色姜黄或红色赭石），与其他圣物一起藏在专门建造的纤维神殿中，充当小神殿。当在仪式中用仪式圣歌激活时，它们充当了动态通道——祖先神的灵魂可以通过的容器（或vaka），这将允许编织椰子纤维的吊绳，以便在仪式上主要由女性佩戴，作为尊贵的装饰品，无论是作为单个吊坠还是作为更大项链的元素象牙像在哈派群岛和斐济都被尊为圣物，1868年在斐济收集了这个例子。世界上现存的这种单头象牙色的雌性鲸鱼有十六个。它们的风格特征显示出与哈派木人的强烈相似性，但与已知的斐济雕塑实例有很大不同，这表明它们几乎可以肯定是在哈派群体中创作的，随后被交易到斐济。波利尼西亚岛民没有捕鲸，而是在珊瑚礁上等待搁浅的机会，在那里他们会遵循适当的协议，然后外出收获和分发收集到的个体象牙。如今，鲸齿仍然是备受重视和享有盛誉的物品 Maia Nuku，2020 Evelyn A.J.Hall和John A.Friede海洋艺术副馆长。《大洋洲：太平洋岛屿艺术》，大都会艺术博物馆，第287-9页，第172号。纽约：大都会艺术博物馆，2007年 Kjellgren，Eric。《如何阅读海洋艺术》，第146-9页，第35页。纽约：大都会艺术博物馆和纽黑文：耶鲁大学出版社，2014年努库，迈亚。ATEA：波利尼西亚的自然与神性。大都会艺术博物馆公告，2019年冬季，第12-3页。展出牛顿，道格拉斯。《纳尔逊·A·洛克菲勒收藏：原始艺术的杰作》，纽约：阿尔弗雷德·克诺夫，1978年进一步阅读罗杰，尼奇。'汤加人物：从女神到传教士奖杯再到杰作，《波利尼西亚社会杂志》第116卷第2期（2007年6月），第213-268页
介绍（英）	Whale ivory figurines, from the Ha’apai Islands of Tonga have a sculptural power that belies their modest scale. Almost exclusively female, the images are referred to as known as ’otua fefine, a term used to describe prominent female ancestors who were venerated as divine beings. This striking example was carved from the creamy core of the polished tooth of a sperm whale. The figure’s honey-colored patina was achieved by smoking the figure over smoldering sugary tubers from the ti plant (Cordyline fruticose) and then rubbing with oil. Not only did this accentuate the ivory’s natural grain (giving it a rich reddish color which was an important element of its aesthetic), the resulting shimmer of the surface conveyed something of the essence of divine, sacred light. The creator of this remarkable carving worked the material to spectacular effect, choosing to align the grain of the whale ivory at the center of the figure so that fine concentric circles emanate out from the figure’s knees and navel and embellish the lower part of her face. Carefully worked incisions create a series of raised ridges which delineate facial details including her eyebrows, a pair of closed eyes and neatly executed nose. The small, partially closed mouth adds to the overall impression of calm serenity and repose. The figure is robust with a strong physique and rounded breasts, the triangular head prominent and well-defined with a strong chin that juts out dramatically over her neck and shoulders. Her strong arms and flattened palms frame her body, containing the forces of vital energy within her. The gently flexing stance is typical of the carving style of the Ha’apai Islands, at the center of the Tongan archipelago. The natural contour of the original whale tooth can be determined by the angle of the figure’s compact body as she tips gently to the left. A small whale ivory peg in the left hand arm is an original repair from several centuries ago. Wrapped in barkcloth (smeared with yellow turmeric or red ochre), the figures were secreted away with other sacred objects in specially constructed fiber god houses which acted as small shrines. When activated with ritual chants in ceremony, they served as dynamic channels – a vessel (or vaka) through which the spirits of the ancestral gods could pass. Many, like this one, have a suspension hole in the back of the head or neck, which would allow for a suspension cord of plaited coconut fiber so that they could be worn on ceremonial occasions by chiefly women as prestige ornaments, either as single pendants or as an element of a larger necklace. Ivory figures were venerated as sacred objects in the Ha’apai Islands as well as in Fiji, where this example was collected in 1868. There are sixteen of these single whale ivory female figures extant in the world. Their stylistic features show strong affinities with wood figures from Ha’apai, but differ greatly from known examples of Fijian sculpture, indicating that they were almost certainly created in the Ha’apai group and subsequently traded to Fiji. Polynesian islanders did not hunt whales but waited for chance strandings on the reef where they would follow appropriate protocols before going out to harvest and distribute the individual ivories collected. Whale teeth continue to be highly valued and prestigious items today. Maia Nuku, 2020 Evelyn A. J. Hall and John A. Friede Associate Curator for Oceanic Art Published Kjellgren, Eric. Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 287-9, no. 172. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007 Kjellgren, Eric. How to Read Oceanic Art, pp. 146-9, no. 35. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014 Nuku, Maia. ATEA: Nature and Divinity in Polynesia. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Winter 2019, p. 12-3. Exhibited Newton, Douglas. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Primitive Art. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. Further Reading Niech, Roger. ‘Tongan figures: from goddesses to missionary trophies to masterpieces’, The Journal of the Polynesian Society Vol. 116, No. 2 (JUNE 2007), pp. 213-268