Figural flute stopper, around 1900 · Papua New Guinea, Sawos · ID: 3047911
Sam & Sharon Singer, San Francisco, USA
Michael Hamson, Palos Verdes, California, USA
Description
wood, pigment remains, shell material, base
According to Michael Hamson, this stone-carved flute stopper of the Sawos culture is pre-contact, stone-carved and has obviously had a rough existence in the field prior to collection.
Great bamboo flutes are amongst the most sacred and important objects of the clan. They are the voice of the spirits and must never be seen by women or uninitiated men.
Flute stoppers were used to contain the ancestral spirits residing in the ceremonial bamboo flutes.
The object Figural flute stopper, around 1900 with the object ID 3047911 was last part of the auction 96th Auction at April 24, 2021 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 38.
Here you will find more objects and interesting facts about Oceanian art.
Comparing literature
Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 227, ill. 238