String figure "timbuwara" ("spear of the door") · Papua New Guinea - Southern Highlands, Pangia area · ID: 3046877
sold
EUR 1,500
Provenance
Todd Barlin, Sydney, AustraliaSize
H: 86 cm
B: 95 cm
H: 33.9 inch
B: 37.4 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