Standing figure "moai kavakava" ("rib figure") · Easter Island · ID: 3053709
Starting price
EUR 3,500
Estimated price
EUR 5,000
Provenance
American Private CollectionSize
H: 47,5 cm
H: 18.7 inch
Description
wood, pigments, obsidian, bone, rest., base
The emaciated, forward-leaning figures are among the characteristic sculptural forms of traditional Rapa Nui art. With their prominently protruding ribs, vertebrae, facial features and jutting chins, they embody – according to the prevailing view amongst researchers – the appearance of ancestors as they appeared to the living in spirit form. Their significance is also associated with status and personal ownership.
Scholars have also discussed a possible connection between the characteristic facial features and depictions of birds and the avian fauna and a bird deity of Rapa Nui.
Comparing literature
Wardwell, Allen, Island Ancestors, Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, Fort Worth 1994, p. 256 f.