Ancestor figure "kawe" ·  Westneuguinea / Westpapua (Irian Jaya), Asmat · ID: 3036173

Description

light wood, white, red and black pigment, scarification marks on body and face, rep. (arms/legs, right hand broken);
the deceased is depicted in shape of a praying mantis, respectively in the characteristic crouching posture of the insect. This motif, called “wenet”, is the Asmats symbol for headhunting par excellence, for the female of the praying mantis bites off its male partners head after the sexual act.

The object Ancestor figure “kawe” with the object ID 3036173 was last part of the auction 76th tribal art auction at March 22, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 46 achieved a sales price of EUR 600.

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