Figural suspension hook, before 1934
Papua New Guinea, Iatmul
sold
EUR 9,500
Provenance
Johann Beck, Bremen, Germany (coll in situ between 1928 - 1934, when he worked as a captain for the shipping company Norddeutsche Lloyd Bremen)Klaus-Jochen Krüger, Hamburg, Germany
Thomas Schulze, Berlin, Germany
Size
H: 93,5 cm
H: 36.8 inch
Description
wood, reddish brown patina, traces of black paint, in shape of a standing male ancestor figure, eyes with cowrie shell inlay, necklace with grey seeds of Job’s-tear grass, loincloth from bark cloth, eyelet on the backside for suspension, slightly dam., minor missing parts, abrasion of paint;
figural hooks were integral components of men’s houses, serving two primary functions, both protective. The first was practical. The sculptures were hung from the rafters or eves, with valuable foods and personal items hung on their hooks, keeping them away from the numerous vermin. The second was the protection the hooks gave as intermediaries to the inhabitant ancestral spirits.