Ancestor skull "ndambirkus" ·  Westneuguinea / Westpapua (Irian Jaya), Asmat · ID: 3050184

Description

human skull,

The eye sockets were filled with beeswax and inlaid with the red seeds of the crab’s-eye vine (“abrus precatorius”).The naval cavity was embellished with a headhunters “bipane”. The skull wears a headband made of fibre cord and Job’s-tears grass (“coix lachryma-jobi”), to which feathers of a cockatoo were attached.

The basic themes of Asmat culture were head-hunting and ancestor worship. Their ceremonial life chiefly aimed at appeasing the spirits of the dead, which is why skulls of treasured ancestors “ndambirkus” were such elaborately embellished like the present one.

The object Ancestor skull “ndambirkus” with the object ID 3050184 was part of the auction 101st Auction on November 11, 2023. The object with the lot number 56 achieved a sales price of EUR 8,500 with an asking price of EUR 6,000.

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Comparing literature

Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 84

Notices

This object is subject to CITES. Please note that it can only be sent within the European Union. At the present time export in third countries is prohibited, respectively, export licenses in third countries for objects containing or made of protected materials are only granted under stringent conditions.