Collections: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands: Ancestral Figure (Korwar)

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Ancestral Figure (Korwar)

Korwar figures serve to keep surviving relatives in contact with their deceased ancestors and thus always able to secure their powerful blessings. They serve as a medium of communication between the living and the dead. Korwars may be standing or squatting figures. The heads are large in relation to the highly abstract bodies; the chin is usually straight, horizontal, and broad; and the nose is the most prominent facial feature. This highly unusual double figure holds a shield (now partially eroded). The shield has been said to derive from the snake, which in turn represents rejuvenation and regeneration, a key idea in the religion of the people of Cenderawasih Bay.


• Medium: Wood
• Place Made: Doreh Bay (possibly), New Guinea, Cenderawasih Bay, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
• Dates: early 20th century
• Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 6 x 5 1/4 in. (22.2 x 15.2 x 13.3 cm)
• Collections: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands
• Museum Location: This item is on view in The Arts of the Pacific, 1st Floor
• Accession Number: 62.18.2
• Credit Line: Frank L. Babbott Fund
• Image: Overall, 62.18.2_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Ancestral Figure (Korwar), early 20th century. Wood, 8 3/4 x 6 x 5 1/4 in. (22.2 x 15.2 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 62.18.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 62.18.2_SL1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Kowar (mortuary figure). Carving is that of two figures, male and female, holding a stylized snake, each figure with one arm on a snake and the other arm on the free arm of the other figure. Male figure wears a tiny cap on top of his head. Condition: completely worm eaten around lower section. But top is in good condition.