Ancestor figure "kawe" ·  Westneuguinea / Westpapua (Irian Jaya), Asmat · ID: 3035272

Description

light wood, remains of black, red and white pigment, squatting male figure which shows the bearing of a praying mantis (“wenet-motif”), rising from a conical base with incised curvilinear ornaments (cut), incised scarifications on the back and on the arms, collection number “ET 67-0” (?), slightly dam., minor missing parts (head), paint rubbed off, on plate;
the so-called “wenet” motif can be looked upon as the symbol for head hunting par excellence, because the female of that kind of insects bites off the males head after copulation took place. It is used for decorating various objects throughout the whole Asmat region. Present object originally could have been the tip of a canoe prow with an ancestor figure “kawe” as protective spirit.

The object Ancestor figure “kawe” with the object ID 3035272 was last part of the auction 74th tribal art auction at September 7, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 19.

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Comparing literature

Helfrich, Klaus u.a., Asmat, Berlin 1996, p. 186