Standing male ancestor figure "kawe"

Description

wood, small remains of painting in red, white and black, label with the inscription: “from the museum of Jayapura” (= provincial capital of Papua, Indonesia), slightly dam., minor missing parts, crack (back of the head), abrasion of paint;
probably an ancestor figure “kawe”, who depicted certain individual ancestors. In the creation myth of the Asmat the big hero “fumeripit” carved a number of human figures. When he beat his his drum they became alive as the original humans and formed the first clans.