String figure "timbuwara" · Papua New Guinea - Southern Highlands, Pangia area · ID: 3052724
Starting price
EUR 600
Estimated price
EUR 1,200
Provenance
Missionary Collection, Neuendettelsau, Germany (before 1930)Size
H: 118 cm
H: 46.5 inch
Description
rattan, ochre, clay pigment,
According to Anthony Meyer, there is different information about the use/ function of these abstract objects.
On the one hand, they are supposed to have been attached to the entrance of the men’s house as a guardian spirit, but on the other hand, there are indications that they were carried on the head during fertility rites. Thirdly, they are said to represent a man’s deceased wife, and were kept in the Men’s House where friends and relatives could pay their respects.
Comparing literature
Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 304, ill. 334