Spirit board "gope"

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Description

wood, brown patina, remains of red and white pigment, carved in flat relief with the face of an ancestor spirit in the centre, holes on either side, old collection number “M 173” backside, slightly dam., missing parts (left lower rim), abrasion of paint, base;
it was recounted that spirit boards were carried in male initiation with young boys holding onto strings attached to the holes on each side of the board. And carried in the black of the night, the procession of boards and initiates was lit by small torches placed in holes at the top of the board.

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Comparing literature

Hamson, Michael, Red Eye of the Sun, Los Angeles 2010, p. 34

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Publications

Galerie Flak (ed.), Rites et formes de Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée, Paris, France, p. 92

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