Yam cult figure "minja" · Papua New Guinea, East Sepik Province, Washkuk Hills, Kwoma · ID: 3046843
sold
EUR 2,500
Provenance
Bruce Seaman, Honolulu, Hawaii
George Craig, Green Islands, Melanesia
Michael Hamson, Palos Verdes, California, USA
Craig spent seventeen years of his life in Papua New Guinea where he worked as a crocodile hunter. Already as a young man he was enthusiastic about tribal art from this region and started collecting, which he continued throughout his life.
Size
H: 80 cm
H: 31.5 inch
Description
wood, colour pigments, feathers, custom mount
“Minja” figures were used in ceremonies to aid in hunting and yam fertility.
Newton reports that the Kwoma regard the “minja” figures as representations of water spirits that live in lakes, which are sometimes seen just below the surface.
Comparing literature
Craig, Barry (ed.), Living spirits with fixed abodes, Honolulu 2010, p. 111, MPNr 177