Beautiful old ancestor spirit figure "blaal" · Papua New Guinea - Middle Sepik · ID: 3040149
sold
EUR 4,000
Provenance
Ingeborg de Beausacq, collected in the field, before 1959Ingeborg de Beausacq (1910-2003) was an American photographer and explorer of german origin. She led an adventurous life, lived in Paris, Brazil, New York, she visited Thailand, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Greece and Nepal. She spent three years in Papua New Guinea (1957-59) where she lived with the natives, sharing their life, photographed their initiation rites, wrote their history and bought art objects.
Size
H: 31,3 cm
H: 12.3 inch
Description
wood, partly encrusted brown patina, characteristic form in the so-called “beak-style” with the long projecting beak-like mouth, incised curved ornaments, pierced ears for attachment of ornament, slightly dam.;
according to O. Reche the ancestor figures originally were advancements or supplements of the real ancestor skulls. The idea was, that not only a natural head but a whole body should be offered as abode to the soul of the deceased. According to Reche it can be assumed, that the original form of an ancestor figure consisted of a natural human skull and a wooden trunk. But this was only a transitional stage and finally was detached by such wooden whole-figure-statuettes.