Horizontal ornament
Papua New Guinea, Abelam
not available anymore
Provenance
Helen S. Slosberg Collection, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham/Boston, USAMark A. Blackburn, Hawaii, USA
Size
B: 91 cm
B: 35.8 inch
Description
light-coloured wood, blackish brown patina, polychrome painted, front- and backside carved, two hornbill heads arranged back to back, a further bird head below (cockatoo ?), the remaining surface decorated with incised ornaments, accentuated by especially bright colours (indigo blue, red), old collection number “A66.25”, slightly dam., small missing parts, paint rubbed off;
hornbill heads are clan emblems and head-hunting and ancestral symbols. Possibly used as lintel for a door frame.