Prow of a ritual canoe with ornament "munkuris" or "maan" ·  Papua New Guinea - Trobriand Islands, Massim · ID: 3033053

Description

wood, small remains of polychrome pigments (red, white, black), elongated slender prow, decorated with accurate incised curved ornaments, canoe-prow ornament with curled volute-motifs, slightly dam., cracks, traces of weathering, on base;
prow ornaments should give magical and spiritual protection to the canoe. The populations of the Massim Area principally maritime people, are great sailors capable of the long and arduous canoe trips across the open seas demanded by the all-important “kula” inter-island trading system.

The object Prow of a ritual canoe with ornament “munkuris” or “maan” with the object ID 3033053 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 28 achieved a sales price of EUR 4,000.

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Comparing literature

Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 143