Figure Item Number: Edz1094 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Miniature standing human figure--figure wears a long-sleeved top, billowing yellow pants and slippers,and has long, braided black hair. A single metal wire curved out of the top of the head. Entire figure stands on a red lacquered cube of wood.
History Of Use
Small carved and painted images were used by boat-dwelling people to represent deceased ancestors so that offerings could be made to them. Boat-dwelling people, called Tanka or, more respectfully, Seuih Seung Yahn, spent their entire lives on boats except for going ashore to fetch water, to market their catch, to bream their boats, and to bury their dead. They made their living through fishing or transport of goods. They were discriminated against by land-dwellers, and their children were not allowed to attend school, so that they remained illiterate. For this reason, they could not represent ancestors with written tablets giving their names. In Hong Kong, their conditions improved in the 1960s, when they were encouraged to move onto land and their children to attend school. Whether or not they continue to use images to represent ancestors is a subject for future research.
Narrative
This image was purchased by Elizabeth Johnson from Mountain Folk Craft, a shop in Kowloon.
Iconographic Meaning
The braid suggests that the ancestor was an unmarried young woman. Married women wore their hair in a bun.
Item History
- Made in Hong Kong, China before 1979
- Collected by Elizabeth L. Johnson during 1979
- Owned by Mountain Folk Craft
- Owned by Elizabeth L. Johnson before March 17, 1980
- Received from Elizabeth L. Johnson (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Shop Volunteers (Funding source) on March 17, 1980
What
Who
- Culture
- Chinese
- Field Collector
- Elizabeth L. Johnson
- Previous Owner
- Mountain Folk Craft and Elizabeth L. Johnson
- Received from
- Elizabeth L. Johnson (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Shop Volunteers (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Hong Kong, China
When
- Creation Date
- before 1979
- Collection Date
- during 1979
- Ownership Date
- before March 17, 1980
- Acquisition Date
- on March 17, 1980
Other
- Item Classes
- carvings & sculpture
- Condition
- fair
- Accession Number
- 0610/0064