Artist Patrick Magee brings us
this very well done shrunken head. I really like the translucent skin. Traditional tsanta gaffs have a matte finish that replicates the look of the originals, which were smoked over a fire as part of the preservation process.
It’s really a cute prop and it reminds me of the head of Gollum or of some malignant pygmy tribe. Of course it might also be one of the Little People or the noggin of a Fey or Shee as well. You need only change the attribution a bit to create multiple identities for the object. Then again, it can be physically modified just slightly with pointy ears and maybe a topknot for an interesting variation.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing is that if this is a shrunken head, the creators have also shrunk the skull as well, which is some accomplishment. Nonetheless, I really like this cute little thing as it has lots of possibilities.
It is really nicely done from a craftsmanship point of view, but reminds me less of a shrunken head than of a mummified gnome or brownie. Mainly because the shape of this head is defined by the bone structure of the skull. A Tsantsa has the skull removed to facilitate the shrinking process and the features end up flattening and losing definition during preservation.
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