Ancestor statuette

Of great sculptural beauty, this figure is a rare variation on the characteristic figures found in the Angoram region of East Sepik province.

She was sculpted in a surrealist form with arched shoulders and arms positioned far back from the body, elbows resting on the buttocks. Hands resting on the abdomen above a downward-facing pelvis between curvilinear legs, knees delineated, feet joined at the base on a rounded form.

The head is proportionally large, with a curious cavity at the back of the skull, which is normally associated with figurines from the Boiken populations northwest of Angoram, rather than those from the Lower Sepik.

It may well be the sculptor’s interpretation of a masked ceremony, very common along this famous river.

This type of sculpture, probably representing a powerful spirit, was attached to a structure by means of a cord passing through the hole at the top of the skull.

It was worn on the back by dancers during initiation ceremonies.

Carved with a lithic tool, it was most probably collected before the First World War, when New Guinea was still under German administration. The fact that the figurine was found on a property in Hanover, Germany, reinforces this hypothesis.

Price: €19,500