Orator's Pulpit (Teket)
Place made:Papua New Guinea
Culture: Iatmul people
Date: late- 19th-early- 20th century
Dimensions:
h. 32 in. (81.3 cm); w. 18 5/16 in. (46.5 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Gilbert M. Denman, Jr.
Object number: 77.1025
Label Text
The orator's pulpit, or debating lectern, was among the most important and prestigious treasures of New Guinea's Iatmul people. The orator's pulpit stood permanently next to the central support-post in the Men's House, and was used in the debates that were a major part of the male socio-cultural order. These debates were noisy affairs, each speaker striving to upstage the others with his teatrics. The tone was oftern strongly ironic and artificially violent. Speakers held a small bunch of "Cordyline" leaves in their hands. They either stuck the top of the lectern at each important point, or placed an individual leaf from the bunch on the pulpit to punctuate the speech. Old, traditional orator's pulpits are rare. They are powerful representations of a cummunity's most important spirit and are central to its social life. The figure depicted here is the "wagen," a primeval creator.
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
