Vanuatu Slit Gong, Vanuatu

Merton D. Simpson, New York
Allan Stone, New York, acquired from the above on either September 20, 1981 or December 8, 1986

Very good condition overall. Weathered from exposure in situ, with stable surface age cracks. Surface worn from use, particularly on the proper right side of the body where the gong was struck. Minor marks, nicks, scratches, abrasions, and small chips. An age crack extending through bottom edge of nose. Bottom element of the nose broken and glued along an age crack with a visible seam. Small losses in coiffure. Fine weathered, aged patina. Fixed to a heavy metal base with four thick metal pins.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The towering figural slit gongs of central Vanuatu are among the largest of all Oceanic sculptures, and according to Eric Kjellgren (2007: 176) are indeed "among the largest musical instruments on earth."  The stylized human torsos which form the finials of these gongs represent mystic ancestors, with large disk-shaped eyes gazing down at the living viewer, which were painted in dazzling, colorful spiral designs.  Kjellgren continues (ibid.: 176-177): "In their basic form, slit gongs are hollowed, or partially hollowed, cylinders of wood with a narrow longitudinal opening, or slit, whose edges are struck to produce a deep, sonorous tone.  When stood on the village dancing ground, the gongs tower over the percussionists who, seated or standing, strike the lip of the gong with clublike softwood mallets.  In major villages a number of gongs, consituting a sort of informal orchestra, stand on the dancing ground.  These gong orchestras are played at all major social and religious events, such as grade initiations, funerals, and dances.  When several gongs are played simultaneously, rhythms of immense variety and complexity can be produced by the carefully coordinated actions of multiple percussionists.  In the rugged, mountainous terrain of many of the islands, slit gongs were, and in some cases still are, used to communicate between villages.  Under proper atmospheric conditions, their sound can carry for miles through the surrounding forest, and, in rare instances, across the water to neighboring islands.  A complex series of local "gong languages", consisting of a system of beats and pauses, enables highly specific messages to be sent rapidly to distant locations."

The elegant abstract design of the gong-figure merges the fuctional form of the instrument with the spiritually significant image of an ancestor.  Describing a comparable gong in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which today stands in the center of the Melenesia Gallery in that museum, Kjellgren (ibid.) notes: "The eyes sit above a prominent, pierced nose through which sprays of leaves were once inserted as ornaments.  The face is surrounded by rows of concentric toothlike projections, representing the hair (hingiye) and small arms and spiral motifs depicting sacred pigs' tusks appear on either side.  The long vertical slit represents the mouth (tute), from which the ancestor's "voice" emerges as sound whenever the gong is played."