Artist Index: Amazonia

Photographer unknown. Shrunken head of Chief Tibi of the Antipas tribe, Amazon. 1870s. Albumen print. 20 x 14 cm. Mounted to board, annotated in English in ink on mount verso.

This early and rare photograph of a shrunken head shows Chief 'Tibi', of an indigenous tribe settled on the upper Amazon called 'Antipas'. He was killed by members of the Aguaruna tribe in 1871 and subsequently prepared in this form. The history of these tribal battles and that of the head are extensively documented on the back of the photograph in contemporary handwritten notes. Headhunters existed in many regions of the world, but the making of shrunken heads from the heads of slain enemies is known only from a few peoples of the Amazon basin. This custom was especially practiced by the members of the Aguaruna and Shuar in Peru and Ecuador. After successful headhunting, the victorious tribe celebrated a series of complex rituals by making the head trophy (tsantsa), during which the life force of the slain person was transferred into the hunter. After the head was appropriately prepared, the eyelids and mouth were sewn closed with needles made of bamboo to prevent the dead man's vengeful spirit from exiting. In the 19th and 20th centuries, shrunken heads were a popular souvenir for sailors and travelers from South America, making them a coveted object of ethnological collectors and museums in Europe and North America. A shrunken head of this type was first displayed in London in 1861 in an ethnological exhibition.
– Some light surface scuffing, otherwise a strong print in very good condition.

Photographer: Charles Kroehle (1867-1902) and unknown. Portraits and ethnographic studies of indigenous people of Peru. 1890s. 20 albumen prints. Circa 14 x 9,5 cm. 14 signed by C. Kroehle in the negative in lower corners, each annotated in pencil on the verso.

The German photographer Charles Kroehle is considered one of the pioneering photographers of the Amazon. He travelled on several expeditions to the Amazon, Ecuador and Bolivia. During those trips some of the first photographs were taken of indigenous people. The rare portraits offered here are mostly from the Amazon in Peru. They show people such as the Pirus (Rio Pichis); Canelos (Rio Pastaza); Múra-Pirahã (Rio Pachitea); Huasheri (Rio Napo); Campa (Rio Palcazu); Cunibo (Rio Ucayali); Lorenzo (Rio Mayra); Cachivo (Rio Pchitea); Chipivas (Rio Ucayali); Cashiva, (Chonta Isla, Rio Pachitea).
– Some with creases, a few faded, otherwise most in very good condition and many with strong contrasts.

Lit.: Musée du quai Branly. D'un regard l'Autre. Photographies XiXe siècle. Arles 2006, ill. p. 90.
Séverine Charon (ed.). L'Amazonie disparue. Indiens et explorateurs 1825-1930. Paris 2005, ill. pp. 94,95, 98,100.