Hook "garra" ·  Papua New Guinea - Hunstein Mountains · ID: 3032948

Description

wood, dark brown patina with remains of black paint, projection in the centre whitened with kaolin, the corpus painted with white dots, slightly dam., cracks, on block-like base;
“garra” are carried in the hands of male dancers during initiation ceremonies. The concentric hooked “garra” are not true masks. They are thought to represent an image of the cosmos with the hooks of the hornbill beaks distributed around the middle element of the sun and moon. Others interpret the “garra” as representing a catfish. Hooked “garra” are also identified with water spirits, and should be kept immersed or at least in a wet place.

The object Hook “garra” with the object ID 3032948 was last part of the auction 69th tribal art auction at June 2, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 23 achieved a sales price of EUR 20,000.

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Comparing literature

Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 265 f.

Publications

Louisianna Revy, 32, September 1991, Fig. 7, Katnr. 214, S. 43

Exhibition

OCEANIA, Kunst fra Melanesien, Louisianna Museet, Denmark 1991