Sujet

A Page from Papua: New Guinea widows mourning, 1895. Creator: George Meisenbach.

Légende

A Page from Papua: New Guinea widows mourning, 1895. Photograph from the collection of Mr. A. C. English. 'It has been thought a wise thing, in managing the Papuans, to investigate and comprehend their traditions, customs, and ways of life generally...Polygamy is common, and is based on the theory that the more wives a man has the more comfortable he will be. The description of the marriage customs in one division of the territory would seem to indicate that the "advanced woman" is not necessarily a product of the highest civilisation. In that part the Papuan woman takes the initiative, sending for the man of her choice, who comes and takes her away. Her relatives organise a demonstration, and demand in return a sister of the bridegroom for wife to a youth of their family. Thus it is a case of fair exchange; but it is surely barter when, if there is no available sister, a payment in currency - sharks' teeth, say - is taken as substitute...Will the Papuans, now civilisation has reached them, continue to grow and multiply and people the land, or will they go down as the native Australians have done, as the Maoris of New Zealand are rapidly going?'. From "Illustrated London News", 1895.

Crédit

Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector

Notre référence

HRM26A07_494

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

Licence

Droits gérés

Format disponible

10,7Mo (1,0Mo) / 20,0cm x 13,4cm / 2362 x 1579 (300dpi)

Mots clés

female women woman people black marriage costume clothes British traditional tradition Papua New Guinea death custom dress necklace necklaces jewellery jewelry traditional costume native century Colonial empire Britain newspapers press clothing concept topless typical mourning controversy APPAREL B&W grass skirt grass skirts controversial papuan 19th century black & white black and white B W widow nineteenth century widows customs The Print Collector British Empire colonialism colonisation Illustrated London News TGN traditional dress ILN indigenous newspaper photograph portrait indigenous people George Meisenbach Meisenbach George tradition dress 19th-century clothing & dress fashion & clothing The Illustrated London News Meisenbach Georg Georg Meisenbach Georg Meisenbach & Co