oceania | Papua New Guinea
Ancestor Figure
Papua New Guinea
North Coast, Aitape region
East Sepik Province
Carved wood
Early 20th century
Height: 20 ½ in. (52 cm)
Ex private German, acquired in the 1930s
Ex Sotheby’s New York, May 2001 lot 7
Ex collection Pierre Mondoloni, France
Figure Sepik Aitape 52 cm / Galerie Flak
Price on request
This powerful & dynamic ancestor figure comes from the Aitape area of northern Papua New Guinea.
There is very little information available on the rituals and ceremonies which took place the northern region of Sepik.
This figure may have been the incarnation of a mythical founding heroes of the clan as noted by Joseph Schmidt (“Die Ethnographie der Nor-Papua“, 1933).
This male figure exudes remarkable warrior strength and intensity. The delicacy and elongation of the legs contrast with the volumes of the upper body, exalting the power of the ancestor.
There is very little information available on the rituals and ceremonies which took place the northern region of Sepik.
This figure may have been the incarnation of a mythical founding heroes of the clan as noted by Joseph Schmidt (“Die Ethnographie der Nor-Papua“, 1933).
This male figure exudes remarkable warrior strength and intensity. The delicacy and elongation of the legs contrast with the volumes of the upper body, exalting the power of the ancestor.
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