Figural suspension hook · Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik, Sawos · ID: 3047128
sold
EUR 1,300
Provenance
Peter Michael Mayer, New York City, USAMayer (1936-2018) was a British-born American independant publisher who was president of “The Overlook Press”, a Woodstock, New York-based publishing company he founded with his father in 1971.
Size
H: 78 cm
H: 30.7 inch
Description
wood, colour pigments, kaolin, traces of resin,
The male figure represents an important clan ancestor, known by name, who was supposed to assist in hunting and warfare and in warding off diseases.
To obtain this support he was offered food, areca nuts and tobacco. It was believed that the spirit inherent in the hook accompanied the hunters and warriors in their undertakings.
Comparing literature
Craig, Barry (ed.), Living spirits with fixed abodes, Honolulu 2010, p. 93