Spear

oceania | Admiralty Islands

Spear

Admiralty Islands

Ceremonial spear

Carved wood, piments, fiber, obsidian blade
19th or early 20th century
Height : 81 in. (206 cm)

Collected during the Korrigane expedition (1934-1936)
Inventory number / Loan to Musée de l’Homme Paris: #D39-3 2015
Ex private collection of the Van Den Broek d’Obrenan family, participants of the Korrigane expedition
By family descent until the 1990s
Ex private collection Paris

Published:
“Le Voyage de la Korrigane dans les Mers du Sud”, Musée de l’Homme, Paris, 2001

Admiralty Spear Korrigane expedition 206 cm / Galerie Flak Price: on request
The Admiralty islands lie to the north of Papua New Guinea and have been inhabited for at least 5,000 years. The primary weapons of Admiralty Islanders were spears and daggers made from obsidian. Obsidian has been used for projectile points since immemorial times. Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed from rapidly- frozen lava. The Bismarck Archipelago, off the north-east coast of Papua New Guinea, is a rich natural resource of obsidian; in particular, the islands of Lou and Manus in the Admiralties from where the obsidian blade of these spears was probably sourced.
A comprehensive study/typology of Admiralty Islands spears was notably published by Robin Torrence. "Obsidian-tipped Spears and Daggers: What can we learn from 130 years of museum collecting" in Christian Kaufmann, Christin Kocher Schmid and Sylvia Ohnemus, eds. Admiralty Islands Art from the South Seas. Zürich: Museum Rietberg, 2002, pp.73-80).
The iconography of this 19th century spear is highly characteristic of ancient Admiralty Islands art with the depiction of human figure emerging from the mouth of a crocodile.

Video

Publication

Explore the entire collection
oceania
oceania | New Ireland
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | New Britain
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | New Zealand
oceania | New Britain
oceania | New Ireland
oceania | New Ireland
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Torres Strait
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Vanuatu
oceania | New Caledonia
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania
oceania | Fiji
oceania | New Caledonia
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Andaman Islands
Bow
oceania | New Ireland
New Acquisitions | Admiralty Islands
oceania | Tonga Islands
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | New Ireland
oceania | Australia
oceania | Australie
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Austral Islands
oceania | Fiji Islands
oceania | Papua New Guinea
oceania | Australia
oceania | New Britain
oceania | New Caledonia
oceania | Fiji Islands
oceania | Australia
oceania | Australia
oceania | Marshall Islands
oceania | Marquesas Islands
oceania | Fiji Islands
oceania | Nepal
oceania | Papua New Guinea
Discover our collections
CoLLECTIoNS
Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter