Bowl "jifoi" · Westneuguinea / Westpapua (Irian Jaya), Asmat · ID: 3035684
Price
EUR 2,000
plus 27 % commission, VAT, transport and insurance
Provenance
collected in situ, Asmat (before 1970)Cenderawashi Museum Jayapura, West Papua (1985)
Size
L: 88 cm
L: 34.6 inch
Description
light wood, remains of white and orange pigment, bowl corpus with characteristic decor on the outside (“bipane” motif), contours in raised struts, a big male figure on one end of the bowl, slightly dam. (mouth), minor missing parts (bowl tip, right foot), rest. (nose tip);
as the bowl is in the shape of a small canoe, this “jifoi” probably was used as paint cup. When not in use, bowls were placed upside down on a rack above the owners sleeping place, so that the depicted ancestor remained in contact with him.
Comparing literature
Dehaene, Frederic (ed.), Asmat Art, The van der Hoeven Collection, Brussels o.J.