String figure "timbuwara" ("spear of the door") ·  Papua New Guinea - Southern Highlands, Pangia area · ID: 3046877

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.

The object String figure “timbuwara” (“spear of the door”) with the object ID 3046877 was last part of the auction Voyage Tribal Art - Live Online Auction at May 23, 2020 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 37 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,500.

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Comparing literature

Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. I, Köln 1995, p. 304, ill. 334