Suspension hook with male figure · Papua New Guinea - Sepik · ID: 3044166
sold
EUR 8,000
Provenance
Jan Lundberg, Malmö, SwedenSize
H: 77 cm
H: 30.3 inch
Description
wood, pigment, cowrie shells, rep., base
Figural hooks were integral part of men’s houses. The sculptures were hung from the rafters or eves, with valuable foods and personal items hung on their hooks, keeping them away from the numerous vermin. A second function was the protection the hooks gave as intermediaries to the inhabitant ancestral spirits.