Head-hunting expeditions to neighboring islands played a vital role in the religious, economic and political life of the Solomons. Attached to the prow of the great war canoes, the nguzunguzu, which was said to have sensory faculties far superior to those of humans, was supposed to observe, intercept, react and interact with any malevolent spirits encountered during the voyage.

As Deborah Waite aptly describes, the second half of the 19th century was a period marked by a particular growth in the number of headhunts in the Solomon Islands. According to Waite, this led to the creation of a complex and ubiquitous symbolism, and to the prolific production of art objects linked to this activity.

The elongated, zoomorphic face, inspired by the morphology of Tiola (a canine-like spirit), suggests that this figurehead originated in the Central Solomons, and more specifically in New Georgia.

Ludwig Bretschneider (1909-1987)

This Munich art dealer and collector of African and Oceanic art had a close relationship with the Museum of the Five Continents (formerly the Museum of Ethnology) in Munich between the 1950s and 1980s. He made several exchanges and donations from his collection