Ancestor figure "kawe" ·  Papua New Guinea, Central Asmat · ID: 3033176

Description

wood, dyed with white pigment, black paint at the coiffure, squatting posture, anthropomorphic head, scarification marks on body and face, accentuated by red pigment, slightly dam., traces of insect caused damage, cracks, on pedestal;
in the Asmats creation myth the big hero “fumeripit” carved a number of human figures. When beating his drum they came alive, forming the first clans. The rigid motionlessness of the “kawe” figures should remind of the initial inanimateness of the first human beings.

The object Ancestor figure “kawe” with the object ID 3033176 was last part of the auction 70th tribal art auction at September 8, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 39 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,200.

You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on Oceanian art.

Comparing literature

Helfrich, Klaus u.a., Asmat, Berlin 1996, p. 184, ill. 12.14