Cult hook figure "yipwon" or "kamanggabi"

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Description

wood, pigments, base

Amongst the Yimam and Alamblak people, “yipwon” are the major war and hunting deities. “Yipwon” are carved in a wide range of sizes, from about fifteen centimeters up to three meters high.

Intermediate size figures, like the present one, were sometimes taken on raids in the hope that the spirit of the “yipwon” would go ahead of the group and attack the enemy with its magical powers.

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Comparing literature

Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 234

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