Cultured charm

Reference : 1566

Cultured charm

Carved wood
Character height: 12.5cm
Total height: 49cm
Early 20th century
Coastal region of the Sepik or Ramu River.
Papua New Guinea

Source :
– Marcia & John Friede. The Jolika collection, Rye, New York

A standing male ancestor rests on a carved cylindrical base.
Arms detached from body, hands resting on hips.
The head, with its characteristic long nose, supports a headdress.
3/5ths of the stick is carved with geometric decoration

Used to promote harvests, these hornbeams were planted in the ground.
They are carved at the top with an ancestral figure.
Very often cut by collectors to keep only the carved part.
It’s rare to come across such complete objects.
Edge-Partington lists one in his work (Vol I, page 309, no. 3) in the British Museum.

Price: €3,800

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