Cannibal Black Magic Taboo Art Headhunters Cannibalism

Cannibal Fetish Black Magic Art Headhunters Cannibalism

Handcarved Tribal Wall Plaque Totem Cannibal Death Cult Headhunter's 'Trophy'

Orig. Wood-Carved Fetish Object from Pacific Cannibal/ Headhunter Tribal Cult

Measures: 156 mm x 116 mm

This rare old find was hand-carved from native wood, and has some truly bizarre, and grizzly, inlay work, probably using mother of pearl or shell fragments. Most of object is straight forward, as it displays the face of a tribal warrior/ headhunter, with face paint, and a surrounding headress. But inserted in his mouth, is a small handcarved white disc, which unmistakably is depicting a white human head, which obviously is in the process of being eaten. The features on the little white face are very clear, with the carved hair, eyes, nose mouth & cheeks, all clearly visible. This little white disc, has 4 black nail? driven through it, to fix it to the mouth of the cannibal head. I'm not exactly sure of what wood this was cut and carved from, but it appears to be quite old, and the wood is very porous. A piece of wire has been attached to the back, so that this can be hung on a wall, or attached to a totem, or statue, etc. There are also some intials carved in the back. It looks to me like it most likely came from the Papua/ New Guinea region, which have long-standing traditions of headhunting and cannibalism. A very unusual piece, for collectors of tribal art, death objects and bizarre artifacts. This would make a perfect Xmas gift, for someone who collects art objects, which deal in the taboo subject of death, cannibalism, headhunting, etc.