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A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.


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Collection No. SOLD but see lots more Fine Oceanic & Aboriginal Art on my website
Size (23cm)
A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.
A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.
A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.
A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.
A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.
A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.

A Fine Old New Guinea Korwar Head Canoe Ornament Geelvink Bay area West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.

This very fine old Canoe Prow Ornament with a strong Korwar Head Finial with traces of red paint is from the Geelvink Bay area on the North Coast of West Papua, Indonesia. It was placed at the very front of the canoe.  When I field collected this canoe ornament 38 years ago it was being kept by a family as an heirloom carving from their Grandfather. They said it was off a large type of ocean-going canoe that is no longer made due to the use of aluminum boats that don’t take months for a community to build as was done with dugout tree canoes made in earlier generations. The village in the field photo in this listing is from the same village as this canoe and I have the name of the family it belonged to. Dating from the early 20th century. The fine open work carving shows the great skill of the carver & at the top of the prow ornament is a Korwar ancestor head that has cassowary feathers as hair.  This Northwest part of the island of New Guinea had plenty of trade links with SE Asia, especially with the Moluccu Islands in Eastern Indonesia where many shared designs have come from. It comes on a custom steel display stand that makes it look like it’s floating.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art.  Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbors.

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