Adventurer, Academic, Industrialist: Louis Pierre Ledoux 1936 New Guinea Expedition
In early 1936, on recommendation by American anthropologist Margaret Mead, Louis Pierre Ledoux, recent Harvard University graduate, headed to the lower eastern Sepik River of Papua New Guinea to study the Murik people.
The results of his self-funded expedition is an extraordinary collection of hundreds of artifacts, photographs, manuscripts, diaries, and letters left untouched for 85 years.
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LOT 217:
Cassowary Feather Headdress
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Cassowary Feather Headdress
Cassowary feathers affixed by rope to create semi-circle headdress.
In Louis Pierre Ledoux's Diary page 298 (lot 108, Box F1), he mentions use of such a half-wig or headdress as part of war regalia and used in the funerary rites of a man, Moiega, who had just passed away, "...part of the war regalia which was used along with a cassowary feather/half wig (collected) to scare others."
In a stock photo of Margaret Mead in 1934 we can see her with a number of 'trophy skulls', some of which seem to be adorned with a similar headress or half-wig. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dr-margaret-mead-assistant-curator-of-ethnology-at -the-news-photo/514690236
Locale: Kaup, Murik Lakes, Lower Sepik River
Country: Papua New Guinea
Date: 1936 or earlier
Material: cassowary feather, rope
Dimensions: L14" x W5"
Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection
Similar item:
Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Nr. VI 10247 b
http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=c ollection&objectId=2029896&viewType=detail View
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