Female Figure

ClassificationsSculpture

Artist Jimmy Mtoched

Datemid 20th Century

Made AtPalau

Collection SitePalau

MediumWood and shell

Dimensions19 5/8 × 5 × 4 1/4 in. (49.8 × 12.7 × 10.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Frieda O. Wray from the Estate of Dr. & Mrs. Douglas and Carolyn Osborne

Object number2019.17.24

DescriptionThis is a wooden statue of a standing female figure carved by a carving apprentice named Jimmy Mtoched in 1969. Palauan standing figures are made in a variety of styles and may be carved from heavy dark wood such as teak or from lighter wood such as breadfruit. Standing figures, such as the one presented here, would have been carved as tokens for the deceased or used as ancestral shrines for the spirit of the dead. Although these types of statues are no longer significant as ancestral shrines, they have gained monetary value to carvers as items of barter. According to the donor, Jimmy Mtoched was a student of a well-known carver named John Paul. Mtoched often visited the donor bringing carved creations designed or started by Paul. Eventually Mtoched started to sell his own carved work and served as a consistent wood carving source for the donor.

On View

Not on view

Collections