Exquisitely beautiful figural flute stopper ·  Papua New Guinea, Sawos / Iatmul · ID: 3049766

Description

wood, encrusted patina, clay-like mass, cowry shell, plant fibre, base

The figure is stone carved from hard wood and shows a softly worn aged and encrusted dark brown patina.

The great flutes are amongst the most sacred and important objects of the clan. They must never be seen by women or uninitiated men. The sounds of these flutes were the actual voices of the spirits, and their magic needed to be controlled. Therefore, these figures were made and inserted into the flutes when they were not in use.

The object Exquisitely beautiful figural flute stopper with the object ID 3049766 was last part of the auction Sale 100 at April 15, 2023 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 12 achieved a sales price of EUR 6,000.

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Comparing literature

Howarth, Crispin et. al., Masterpieces of New Guinea Art, Brussels 2014, p. 132