Two pudding knives ·  Vanuatu - Banks Islands · ID: 3040231

Description

wood, dark brown/reddish brown patina, a) with handle in openwork design and a broad blade, slightly dam., small traces of insect caused damage; b) of narrow elongated form, handle with ornamental contours, slighty dam., on custom mount;
the staple food for the Iles Banks group, as well as of most of Vanuatu, was pudding “lap-lap”, which consisted of yams, taro, or banana. Men used personal eating knives for this pudding. Elaborately carved and beautifully elongated examples of pudding knives are found only on Iles Banks and Torres. Their use was restricted to men of high rank: lower orders would have used relatively simple and shorter knives.

The object Two pudding knives with the object ID 3040231 was last part of the auction 82nd Tribal Art Auction at February 27, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 80 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,200.

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Comparing literature

Hurst, Norman, Power and Prestige, Cambridge 1996, p. 33