Deceased Male Ancestor (”moai-miro”)
From book "My First Ninety Years"
Polynesia, Easter Island, end of the 19th century / early 20th century
monoxyl light brown wood (“toromiro”)
h. 40 cm
MGZ 4752
As representative of sympathetic magic, the idol has a very important role in cults during the ripening of cultivated plants and during initiation rites of young men. It can be considered a degenerated form of the somewhat older type, i.e., the moai-kava-kava, which was also sometimes to be found in the Cassirer flat.
Literature: Šterk, Slavko. Tilla Durieux and Her Art Collection in Zagreb. Zagreb: Zagreb City Museum, 1986, p. 47