Gable mask · Papua New Guinea - Middle Sepik, Iatmul · ID: 3033635
sold
EUR 4,000
Provenance
collected in situ by the German Radio Officer Lehr, on duty for the North German Lloyd (on a ship called “Friderum”), 1921-1928Size
H: 64 cm
H: 25.2 inch
Description
wood, black ground, red and white pigment, entirely painted with curvilinear ornaments, at which the slanting eyes are especially accentuated, pierced stirrup-shaped nose with inflated nostrils, carved with a small hornbill and wild boar tusks, slightly dam., boar tusks missing on the left, pigment rubbed off;
the Iatmul used to attach large raffia plaited or wooden masks to the gables of dwelling and ritual houses. The gable masks of dwelling houses represent female clan-specific spiritual beings, whose task is to protect the inhabitants of the respective houses from any harm or mistfortune that might occur.
Comparing literature
Greub, Suzanne (ed.), Kunst am Sepik, Basel 1985, ill. 34 f.