Male ancestor figure "kawe" · Westneuguinea / Westpapua (Irian Jaya), Asmat · ID: 3043430
Lempertz, Brussels, 25 April 2009, lot 23
Jörg Seidel, Munich, Germany
Description
wood, lime, red ochre, black pigment, Job’s tear grass seeds, plant fibre, characteristic body forming and posture, incised sacrifications, slightly dam., missing parts, metal base.
Such figures are carved for the building of a new Men’s House and are left to decay after the inauguration ceremonies. They represent the first humans, or “asmat”. In the creation myth, a great cultural hero “fumeripit” carved many large human figures. As he began to play his drum, the figures came to life as the original people and formed the first clans.
The object Male ancestor figure “kawe” with the object ID 3043430 was last part of the auction 88th Tribal Art Auction at March 10, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 16 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,000.
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