Small spirit board "gope" · Papua New Guinea - Golf, Elema · ID: 3041447
not available anymore
Provenance
Michael Hamson, Palos Verdes, California, USARichard Aldridge, Perth, Australia
Size
H: 39,5 cm
H: 15.6 inch
Description
wood, brown patina, red and white pigment, lancet-shaped, the face of an ancestor spirit in the centre, jagged pattern around rim, drilled hole for suspension, slightly dam., traces of insect caused damage, abrasion of paint, base;
such small unnamed “gope” boards belonged to boys and young initiates; they were hung in their cubicles for protection, to help growth and to ward off sickness. They lost their potency at initiation.
Comparing literature
Hamson, Michael, Red Eye of the Sun, Los Angeles 2010, p. 42