Male ancestor figure "kandimboang", collected around 1890 ·  Papua New Guinea - Ramu River · ID: 3041902

Description

wood, encrusted reddish brown patina, fine work of carving, with prominent beak-like nose and fine grooved ornamental decor, slightly dam., minor missing parts (ears, thighs/calves backside), base;
the so-called “beak style” is characteristic for many sculptures from the lower Sepik area and refers to the close connection between man and bird. In the peoples religious belief the bird is regarded as bearer of man’s soul into the afterworld (“soul bird”).

The object Male ancestor figure “kandimboang”, collected around 1890 with the object ID 3041902 was last part of the auction 85th Tribal Art Auction at March 4, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 32 achieved a sales price of EUR 6,000.

You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on Oceanian art.

Publications

Galerie Flak (ed.), Rites et Formes de Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée, Paris 2009, p. 68