oceania | Admiralty Islands
Figurative Handle
Admiralty Islands
Figurative handle for a ladle
Admiralty Islands, Bismark Archipelago,
Papua New Guinea
Late 19th or early 20th century
Carved wood, pigments
Height: 28 cm – 11 in.
Provenance
Ex collection Dorothy Brill Robbins, USA
Ex collection Jean-Edouard Carlier, Voyageurs & Curieux, Paris
Ex private collection, Paris
Admiralty Islands figure 28 cm / Galerie Flak
Price on request
The Admiralty Islands, which consist of 18 main islands, are part of the Bismarck Archipelago and are located in the northwest of Papua New Guinea.
The human body is the main motif of Admiralty Islands art.
This figurative handle was originally attached to a gourd or a coconut bowl which served as a ladle.
As mentioned by Dr Hans Nevermann in “Admiralty Islands” (Hamburg Friederichsen, De Gruyter & Co. Ltd., 1934), “ladles for water and other fluids are often produced from half a coconut that has been pierced twice or several times near the rim and fitted with a wooden handle. The handle rises somewhat obliquely from the coconut shell, to which it is joined by a binding coated with Parinarium resin. The part of the handle below the binding is not decorated, and extends into the bottom of the coconut. Since it is firmly seated there, cohesion between shell and handle is doubly ensured.”
Margaret Mead recalls that in 1929 it was customary at feasts to present the guests with a bowl in which the soup was served, and also a ladle (Growing up in New Guinea, Margaret Mead, New York, Harper Collins, 1930).
The human body is the main motif of Admiralty Islands art.
This figurative handle was originally attached to a gourd or a coconut bowl which served as a ladle.
As mentioned by Dr Hans Nevermann in “Admiralty Islands” (Hamburg Friederichsen, De Gruyter & Co. Ltd., 1934), “ladles for water and other fluids are often produced from half a coconut that has been pierced twice or several times near the rim and fitted with a wooden handle. The handle rises somewhat obliquely from the coconut shell, to which it is joined by a binding coated with Parinarium resin. The part of the handle below the binding is not decorated, and extends into the bottom of the coconut. Since it is firmly seated there, cohesion between shell and handle is doubly ensured.”
Margaret Mead recalls that in 1929 it was customary at feasts to present the guests with a bowl in which the soup was served, and also a ladle (Growing up in New Guinea, Margaret Mead, New York, Harper Collins, 1930).
Publication
Plate from “Admiralty Islands”, Dr Hans Nevermann, Hamburg Friederichsen, De Gruyter & Co. Ltd 1934
Documentation
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