Male figure

Reference : 2269

Male figure
Carved wood, ochre and black pigments
Museum inventory mark under right buttock (71.10.460)
Height: 119.2 cm
Presumed date: late 19th – early 20th century
Watam village area. Mouth of the Sepik River
Papua New Guinea

Provenance:
– University of Freiburg until 1962
– Sankt Augustin, Steyler Missionare, Museum Haus Völker und Kulturen, Germany (Inventory 71.10. 460)
– Collection Ulrich Hoffmann, Germany
– Collection Serge Schoffel, Brussels
– Collection Kevin Conru, Brussels
– Collection du Professeur Mark. T. Groudine, Seattle, USA

Photo captions:
– Description of the statue drawn up by the Sangt Augustin Museum
– Georg Höltker taking anthropological measurements of Gaie,^2nd chief of the village of Bosngun on the river Bur.
Photographs taken by Father Joseph Munch in January 1937 © archive SVD

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More details

Our knowledge of Sepik statuary is essentially based on the wide distribution of figurines acting as personal charms.

As they are clan-owned, the old large statues are infinitely rarer.

They represent a founding ancestor “who crossed the ocean in a pirogue to found the clan” and “probably played a role in the initiation ritual for young men “¹.
They could also be “displayed before the warriors massed on the eve of battle “².
Expressing the vital links between the clan and the world of the ancestors, these large sculptures, guarantors of the clan’s well-being, were preciously “arranged in the ceremonial house of the men and conceived as beings endowed with a soul “³.
They were represented standing on a circular base or in the shape of a monoxyle dome.

The character’s spirit could appear in a dream at the home of a renowned member of the clan, talking and singing to him or her. The figure played a decisive role in the clan’s well-being in terms of hunting, initiation and love.
Among the very small number of ancient bero kandimbong statues on the art market, the one collected by Father Georg Höltker is one of the most remarkable examples of the styles developed in the region around the mouth of the Sepik.

It stands out for its large size, the quality of its sculpture and its perfect state of preservation.
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1- Peltier, Schindlbeck and Kaufmann. 2015, p. 175.
2- Meyer. 1995, Vol 1, p. 188
3- Damme, Herreman and Smidt. 1990, pp. 234-236.

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