Morung Figure

Morung Figure

Nagaland (North-East India)

Wood and glass

A key fixture in nearly all Naga settlements was the Morung, or Men’s House, which served as something of a community center. It was usually the biggest and most beautifully furnished building in a village, spacious and decorated with ornate carvings. Numerous wooden sculptures decorated the walls and posts of the farthest end of the innermost space of the Morung. They expressed the narrative traditions of the Naga. Wooden sculpture such as this, depicting would be posted near the walls of the Morung, were not uncommon and thought to relate to fertility.

The Naga are a group of culturally and linguistically linked tribes who live in the mountainous regions of northeastern India and northwestern Burma (Myanmar). As headhunters, they were feared and avoided by their neighbours, allowing them to develop a distinctive material culture—in which objects they created are of impressive aesthetic value and possess great symbolic importance to the community—and a complex system of norms and taboos. The main tribal groups of the Naga include the Angami, Sema, Ao, Kalyo- Kengyu, Konyak, Lhota, Rengma, Tangkhul, Chang, Sangtam and Sema.

Size(cms): 53 (H) x 13 (W) x 8 (D)
Size(inches): 20.9 (H) x 5.1 (W) x 3.1 (D)

SKU: PA-00566 Categories: , , Tags: , , , ,

Description

Nagaland (North-East India)

Wood and glass

A key fixture in nearly all Naga settlements was the Morung, or Men’s House, which served as something of a community center. It was usually the biggest and most beautifully furnished building in a village, spacious and decorated with ornate carvings. Numerous wooden sculptures decorated the walls and posts of the farthest end of the innermost space of the Morung. They expressed the narrative traditions of the Naga. Wooden sculpture such as this, depicting would be posted near the walls of the Morung, were not uncommon and thought to relate to fertility.

The Naga are a group of culturally and linguistically linked tribes who live in the mountainous regions of northeastern India and northwestern Burma (Myanmar). As headhunters, they were feared and avoided by their neighbours, allowing them to develop a distinctive material culture—in which objects they created are of impressive aesthetic value and possess great symbolic importance to the community—and a complex system of norms and taboos. The main tribal groups of the Naga include the Angami, Sema, Ao, Kalyo- Kengyu, Konyak, Lhota, Rengma, Tangkhul, Chang, Sangtam and Sema.

Size(cms): 53 (H) x 13 (W) x 8 (D)
Size(inches): 20.9 (H) x 5.1 (W) x 3.1 (D)

Additional information

Material

Wood

Region

East India

Title

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