Archives: Art For Sale

Art For Sale

A Superb Old New Guinea Abelam Helmet Mask East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Abelam Helmet Mask, East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

In Abelam society, a man’s social status was determined not only by his abilities as an orator or warrior but was additionally measured by his success in cultivating and growing “long yams”. Abelam religious life centred around a complex cycle of male initiation associated with the growth and ceremonial exchange of these long yams; massive tubers commonly attaining lengths of nine to twelve feet. Their cultivation was a sacred activity, surrounded by magic and ritual restrictions and was guided under the patronage of wapinyan, beings who were manifestations of the powerful clan spirits known as nggwalndu, whose carved images were central to the male initiation cycle. The enormous yams were regarded not merely as tubers, but rather as living supernatural beings with humanlike qualities, able to hear and smell, but lacking the powers of movement and speech. During the initiation rites, the yams were essentially transformed into ornate anthropomorphic images, decorated in the manner of men in full ceremonial regalia.

Wooden Abelam helmet masks or mi babakumbu, are extremely rare, and their function is more elusive and not as well understood in contrast to the more common and familiar wickerwork masks that served to adorn the long yams. A single example was photographed in an Abelam cult house in 1953 by the Swiss anthropologist Paul Wirz. That mask was said to have been used during the nggwalndu maira rituals, associated with the highest stages of initiation of the yam ceremonies and represented spirits of powerful clan ancestors.

Apart from their function in ceremonial dances, these masks would also have been displayed in one of the smaller huts besides the cult house used for ceremonial purposes or temporarily placed in the ceremonial grounds or amei, located in front of the cult house, for yam magic.

The surface of the mask is adorned with painted motifs of red and yellow ochre, and the pigments of the mask are multilayered, indicating this cherished mask was repainted during successive initiation ceremonies over several generations.

Provenance:  Old Collection Australia. The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Papua New Guinea Art

I first went to Papua New Guinea in 1985 for an adventure & what I found was that I really enjoyed being with the people of New Guinea, over the next 38 years I spent extensive time spent collecting and documenting traditional art & ceremonies in remote areas of Papua New Guinea & West Papua, The Solomon Islands & Vanuatu & the other Pacific Islands countries. During these travels, I made major collections of New Guinea & Oceanic Art for major Museums and Public Art Galleries

I was honoured by being in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine for the collections I made for The Museum of African & Oceanic Art Paris in 1996 (now the Musee Quai Branly) for the exhibition “Asmat et Mimika d’ Irian Jaya April 1996 At THE MUSEE NATIONAL des ARTS D’AFRIQUE et d’ OCEANIE, Paris

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY and there is the link to the article in the prestigious Louvre Magazine 1996

I have artwork for Museums & 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 specialises in New Guinea & Oceanic Art. Sydney is just a couple hours’ flight to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours.

 

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us.

A Fine Rare Nicobar Island Female Kareau Spirit Figure Andaman Islands Sea of Bengal India

A Fine Rare Nicobar Island Female Kareau Spirit Figure Andaman Islands Sea of Bengal India

The first thing that struck me about this well-carved figure was the intense face, it took me a minute to place the culture. I had seen other similar figures wearing a top hat & with large ear ornaments from the Nicobar or the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

This sculpture, when seen from the side view, shows a Woman with a long-bent neck with her hands holding her very large breasts, she is carved seated on a four-legged western-looking stool.   This Kareau Figure is wearing a European-style top hat; many of these figures are depicted wearing top hats, which may reflect the perceived power of Europeans at the time.

 Kareau figures were carved by spiritual healers (menluanas) to heal and protect against illnesses, which could be caused by a range of sources, including evil spirits to foreigners. The carved figure would be set up outside a sick person’s house to scare and drive away the bad spirits thought to be causing the disease.

The Kareau figures were used to guard Nicobar homes against illness, bad luck and other evil spirits. When misfortune befell a household, the Kareau was deemed to have lost its potency and would be discarded and replaced with a new figure. These discarded ‘idols’ were collected as souvenirs by visiting sailors.”

The Nicobar Islands lie in the Indian Ocean, east of Sri Lanka, in the Bay of Bengal. The islands were under the control of various Asian empires in the 16th century. The Islands were colonized by the Danish in ~1756 and were sold to the British in 1869. They became part of India in 1947. While most Nicobarese people practised the Christian faith, they also followed the traditional animistic religion of the island, which includes belief in good and bad spirits.

Provenance: Collected around 1950 The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Asian 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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

 

A Rare Old New Guinea War Shield from Wanamu Area, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea

Fine Old New Guinea War Shield from Wanamu Area, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea

This beautiful old shield is a rare type of heart shaped Archers Shields were made for small-statured men who wore the strap over their shoulder and then the shield protects the torso of the warrior & leaving his hands free to shoot his bow & arrow & to be nimble enough to dodge other people’s spears and arrows.

Carved from a single piece of hardwood, the unique design is carved in high relief, which means the design stands out from the shield, it depicts an an ancestor figure surrounded by two totemic snakes one on either side, and the painted ochre designs at the top that make an abstract face.

I have looked for as many examples of these Wanamu Heart Shaped Shields as I could find, some are carved with designs (like the ones below) & other with painted designs and an abstract face and or just a band of red ochre.

This is the only Wanumu Shield where the designs are carved in high relief, which is much harder to do with removing all of the area, leaving the design upraised.

In the fine Shields Reference book “The Shields of Melanesia “by Beran & Craig. Dr Craig Page 55 – 56 States “Little is known about these Heart Shaped Shields but they are noted by AC Haddon in 1926 and by Bodrogi in 1959. Haddon states they were very rare “

Provenance: Old Collection Australia & The Todd Barlin Collection of Papua 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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

 

A Superb Old New Guinea War Shield Asmat People West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

A Superb Old War Shield Jamasj, Asmat People Momogo Village Remote NW Asmat Area, South Coast West  Papua (Indonesia) 

This fine old shield was carved by the master carver Berpitj, a master carver or Wow Ipitsj is an important person in the Asmat society; not only are they artists but ritual experts that bridge the living with their ancestors through ceremonial artworks, including shields.

The physical protection of Shields is only one aspect of their use; shields in New Guinea also play an important ceremonial role & often are the vessel for ancestral spirits and often have a personal name that can be invoked to overpower an enemy.  Shields are often kept in Men’s ceremonial houses along with ancestral relics, old shields are family heirlooms and often have an oral history to them, the owner & their clans’ men often can tell you about every particular arrow or spear embedded in the face of the shield, they know the stories of each battle who might have been wounded or killed & how their shield with its ancestral power frightened or stunned their enemies so that they could be easily overcome.

The main Asmat creation myth is about the creator Fumeripitjs, who was lonely so he carved figures from wood and then he made a drum. When he played the drum the carved wood figures came to life and that is how the first Asmat people were created.  For the Asmat the connection between trees and people and the forest is profound.

The main designs down the centre of the shield are called Tar or Flying Foxes which are related to ritualised headhunting in times past. The designs on this shield are executed solely from the artists memory; he would have learned from watching a previous master carver. The elegant form of the shield is rounded at the top and bottom and has an expressive face of a totemic turtle or Mbu carved at the top.  The way the design is spatially placed on the front looks like it is dancing across the shield; there is great movement in the designs.  The designs are imbued with ancestral powers that will frighten the enemy and make them easy to kill.

Field Collected by Todd Barlin in 1985 at this time Momogo Village was a very remote place in and the people had little contact with the outside world and they spoke virtually no Bahasa Indonesia, it is a long way to visit this very small village of less than 50 people. No missionaries had tried to convert them, as the Maryknoll Catholic Father Vincent Cole, who arrived in Sawa Erma in 1980 wanted them to come to it in their own choice and time.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

Provenance: Exhibited & Published in Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Artworks from The Todd Barlin Collection at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Sydney 2016. 

References:Shields of Melanesia ” 2005 Edited by Harry Beran & Barry Craig

This whole book mainly on New Guinea Shields is one of the best references ever published.

I wrote three chapters in the most important book on New Guinea Shields, ” Shields of Melanesia ” 2005  edited by Harry Beran and Barry Craig.  These were the chapters I wrote for this important reference book including a Chapter on the Asmat & South Coast of West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia. 

3.1 Shields from the North Coast of Western New Guinea: Pages 28- 32 : West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

5.1 The Shields of the Highlands of Western New Guinea : Pages 112- 1117  :  Yali Shields Central Highlands West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

6.1 Shields from the Southern Lowlands of Western New Guinea: Pages 155-165 : Four areas of the Asmat People and Digul River areas.

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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

 

A Fine Old War Shield Frieda River, Upper Sepik river area, East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old War Shield, Frieda River, Upper Sepik River area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Frieda River Shields are rare; in 40 years, I have only ever seen 4 or 5 examples.  Shields from the Frieda River area, which includes some Iwam people groups, appear to be transitional between the Telefomin & Mountain OK Peoples style & the Upper Sepik Cultures.

The Frieda River, a major tributary of Papua New Guinea’s vast Sepik River system, is central to a huge copper-gold mining project (Frieda River Project) that faces significant controversy due to environmental and cultural risks to the world’s largest unpolluted freshwater basin, while traditional Sepik shields, carved wood art with distinctive curvilinear designs, represent the rich culture of the region

The Men’s Ceremonial House is where the Shields are being stored. The spiritual ‘heat’ of such relics was believed to be a danger to the well-being of women and children, so ancestral relics were kept only in men’s ritual houses.

In the men’s ritual houses, boys and young men passed through several stages of initiation into the mysteries of the ancestors and the rituals that ensured the growth of the staple crop Sago & the health and welfare of the community, and success in hunting and warfare.

The designs on the Shields were specific to a clan and area specific and the designs had ancestral power, each shield had its own personal name. This fine Shield has deeply incised designs with a central motif and the edge of the shield has a serrated triangular border.  The designs are highlighted with red, white & black ochre.  On the back of the shield, you can see how it was held with a strap going from top to bottom which a warrior slings on to his shoulder

Warfare was widespread among traditional enemies in neighbouring areas and alliances were made & broken regularly between different groups.

Provenance: Collected in the 1960’s by an Australian expat who was working in New Guinea in the 1960’s

 The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

References: Shields of Melanesia” 2005 Pages 80- 81. This gives the clearest information on Shields from this area. ( The field photo of John Pasquerlli trading for a shield on the Upper Sepik River from the book Shields of Melanesia

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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

 

Fine Old New Guinea War Shield Yuat River Lower Sepik River East Sepik Province Papuan New Guinea

Fine Old New Guinea War Shield from the Mundugumor / Biwat people, Yuat River, East Sepik Province, Papuan New Guinea

This is an old and beautiful shield; the carving designs on the front of the shield consist of five well-rendered faces that represent a powerful spirit called Raram.  Old shields were important clan heirlooms and each shield had the personal name of an ancestor.  The superb carving is further brought to life by the infill ochre painting in red, white & black ochres.  The edge of the shield is pierced on both sides from the top to the bottom, with fibre tassels attached as decoration. The back of the shield is highly concave and the handle is upraised and then secured by cane on the top of the handle & a wood bar at the bottom of the handle. In relief carving, such as can be seen on shields, almost every line or band is serrated, creating a dazzling, shimmering effect.

The painted and carved designs were often further accented with the fiber tassels attached to the edges of the shield and beautifully threaded through the pierced noses on the faces.

Sepik Shields conveyed an image of the clan spirits that protected the warrior, their eyes confronting the enemy or any perceived human threat. Each warrior would know the clan symbols of his opponents as well as his own. Seen from a distance, the dramatic colours of the designs emphasized the power that one’s enemies were conjuring up to protect them. When confronting an enemy’s shield in any sort of tribal fight, one confronted the face of the spirit that protected that enemy warrior. Imagine the power of six or ten of these stylized faces of clan spirits glaring at you as you encounter a group of opposing warriors.

Provenance:  Old Collection Australia

The Todd Barlin Collection of Papua 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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

 

Superb Old War Shield, Bahinemo People, Upper April River Hunstein Mountain Ranges East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea,

A Superb Old War Shield, Bahinemo People, Upper April River Hunstein Mountain Ranges East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Stone Carved & 19th Century

This beautiful shield of great age and a very rare type, stone carved and pre-contact.

Upper Sepik, shields conveyed an image of the clan spirits that protected the warrior, their eyes confronting the enemy or any perceived human threat. Each warrior would know the clan symbols of his opponents as well as his own. Seen from a distance, the dramatic colours of the designs emphasised the power that one’s enemies were conjuring up to protect them. When confronting an enemy’s shield in any sort of tribal fight, one confronted the face of the spirit that protected that enemy warrior. Imagine the power of six or ten of these stylized faces of clan spirits glaring at you as you encounter a group of opposing warriors.

There are similarities in form between shields from several different peoples living in the Upper Sepik region, including the Saniyo, who live along much of the Wogamush River, part of the middle Leonard Schultze River, and the west bank of the middle April River, and the Bahinemo, who live on the east bank of the middle April River and in the Hunstein Range. As Craig notes, “the practice of attributing to shields to rivers rather than to particular settlements or peoples on those rivers has been confusing. This has come about because explorers, government officers and traders travelled along the rivers that were the tribal boundaries in pre-contact times and the people moved their villages from inland locations to the rivers banks” (Beran and Craig, eds., Shields of Melanesia, Adelaide, 2005, p. 81). Following this practice, shields of similar form to the present lot have tended to be identified simply as “April River”.

We may attempt a more precise identification in this case, noting the close correspondence of this shield with Craig’s description of the characteristics of Bahinemo war shields, known as tiah. As with the present shield, these shields are generally oval with horizontal handles attached to two or four vertical ridges carved at the rear of the shield. Craig notes that the design “is usually framed with dentate, a continuous zigzag or a series of small chevrons […and] the central part of the design [is] a vertical repetition of faces with a column of spirals on each side […]” (ibid., p. 82). In the present shield these features are notable for their bold and deeply carved graphic quality and the expressive quality of the faces, the design executed in perfect harmony with the beautiful undulating form of the shield itself.

The abstract faces might be representing the culture hero Wulruwiyanggwət (Newton, 1975: 209).  Newton also states that Upper Sepik shields “were identified with major ancestral spirits, some of them at least water-spirits.”

Provenance Philip Goldman (1922– 2012), Private Collection &  The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

Philip Goldman was removed from the RAF at the end of the war because of tuberculosis, after which he pursued a career in electronics. He ran a small business with his wife, Rosalind, but was fascinated by exotic art. Jimmy McMullan, at the Obelisk Gallery on Crawford Street, encouraged them to open a small gallery at 43 George Street, off Marylebone High Street, where they sold art from Africa, Melanesia and the Far East, beginning in 1960. It was there that I first met Philip in the winter of 1961, and the Oriental art I saw was probably on sale or on return from Jimmy. The gallery was next door to another tribal art dealer, Herbert Rieser. Business was slow but picked up when they moved eight years later to Davies Street, just off Berkeley Square. It was near William Ohly’s Berkeley Galleries, which was then run by William’s son, Ernest, who also sold art from the Far East, Africa and Oceania. Americans and other important collectors such as John Friede and the Sainsburys became clients. We all enjoyed the summer parties that Rosalind and Philip gave in their house in a huge garden in Finchley. The American company for which Philip worked sent him to New Guinea in 1957, the first of several trips he made during the next twelve years. He first went up the Sepik River to buy from the traders there, but later he explored the Highland region, acquiring some of the finest door panels from the Telefomin region and the distinctive Hunstein Mountain carvings with their curved spikes. Alas, we have no record from whom he bought the fabulous Karawari hook figure that he sold to Bill Rubin, the then director of MOMA, New York, nor the Malu Board now in the Sze Collection. In fact, no records of transactions survive. They retained the name Gallery 43, which sold art from Africa, Oceania and the Far East, but Philip’s favorited remained that of New Guinea.

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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

 

A Superb Old Bougainville Island Dance Club 19th Century New Guinea

A Superb Old Bougainville Island Dance Club, New Guinea, 19th Century   ( Photos show the beautiful Carving on both sides ) 

This superb old Dance Club is from the Bougainville or Buka Islands and dates from the late 19th Century.

Over the 40 years, I have been collecting Oceanic Art. This is the finest Dance Club from Bougainville I have seen outside of Museum Collections.

These fine old Ceremonial Paddles called kokorra were made only on the two Islands of Buka and Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. The Paddles are important ceremonial objects associated with the life cycle ceremonies and rituals of the highest-ranking chiefs. Its iconography refers to a recurring cycle of birth, life, marriage, death, and the passage to the afterlife.

The anthropomorphic designs on this paddle are known as kokorra, which is also a name given to the decorated Ceremonial Paddles themselves.

The designs on the Paddles are finely carved & ochre-painted in the colours of red, black and white. The Paddles were made by Master Carvers & ritual experts who knew the genealogy of the clans & their sacred designs.

Bougainville is a matrilineal society in which land is owned by women and chiefly titles pass through the female line. The highest rank of chief is the Patu, a position that is considered equivalent to sacred beings. Nakaripa and Naboen Clans each have a Tohe Kau Mal (female paramount chief) and her brother, the Tsunono Mal (male paramount high chief). The second in line to the chiefs fulfils the role of voice, or knowledge holder, and acts as the bridge between the chiefs, clan members and the general public.

The kokorra figure represents a foetus (koreritu) a symbol of creation and journeys in life. The figures on these paddles wear upe (ceremonial hats or headdress) which on Bougainville are worn by young male initiates (see photo below). On Buka, the upe is worn by the male chief during the mourning ceremony and ritual for a Paramount Chief who had passed on.

The overall design composition on this paddle therefore refers to the creation of life, and the passage to Kolu, the land of the ancestors. According to local belief, when a chief is ready to die two eagles will fly above the village, giving that chief permission to pass through the sky as he/she travels to Kolu.

Such paddles would be used in several different ceremonies, during a wedding ceremony, the paddles would be held by the bride as she is carried to meet the family of her future husband. If the marriage is accepted, the bride passes the paddle to her aunt on her mother’s side, who keeps it until the bride falls pregnant, at which time the paddle would be placed at the at the front of the woman’s house to announce the pregnancy. It is then kept in a tsuhana (clan meeting house). When the chief dies the paddle will be placed on her grave to gradually decay, completing the life cycle of the carving.

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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us 

Superb Old Tongan Islands Polynesian War Club 19th Century

A Superb Old Tongan Island  War Club Polynesian dating from the 19th Century

Tongan War Clubs are some of the most beautifully carved objects from Polynesia. They were objects of great prestige and held Mana or spiritual power that was passed on through generations of the Chiefly Club’s owners

The fine old club called Pakipaki or “Coconut stalk”, the groups of stacked horizontal ridges increase in number as they ascend the length of the club, as if building momentum in both number and power to culminate in the lethal striking face at the top.

Clubs in Tonga were historically to be found in a broad range of cultural contexts, from warfare to sport, dance, religion, and the complex everyday use of the chiefly class. Clubs were significant artifacts in historical Tonga.

The clubs were shaped with a stone adze blade which was lashed to a wooden handle.  After the club was made, it was smoothed with a rasp made from sharkskin.  The carved decoration was probably done with a special chiselling tool consisting of a shark’s tooth lashed to a wooden handle.

Originally, these clubs were used in single combat during the wars between Tongan chiefs. Before Christianisation, in Tonga as in Fiji, there were plenty of occasions to shed blood: among many other reasons for war, one can mention personal quarrels, the greed for territory or women, an insult, the violation of a taboo or the irrepressible desire of revenge15. The aim was to kill the opponent with several blows on his head: the higher the death toll of the weapon, the more mana it gathered. The club thus linked the chiefs with gods and ancestors.

Provenance:  The Todd Barlin Collection of Polynesian & 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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

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A Superb Old Nagaland Warrior Figure off a Morung Ceremonial House, Lainong Naga People Burma 19th-early 20th Century

A Superb Old Nagaland Warrior Figure off a Morung Ceremonial House, Lainong Naga People, Burm,a 19th-early 20th Century

This powerful and expressive sculpture of a standing Nagaland Warrior figure trampling on a defeated enemy. This was once on the facade of the Nagaland Ceremonial House, known as a Morung. The warriors’ erect penis would have several possible meanings: the masculine aggressive aspect & fertility for their community, but also the influences from the ancient Hindu Deities like Shiva that surrounded their cultures.

The Lainong people, also known as the Lainong Naga, are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group that mostly resides in the Naga Self-Administered Zone in Burma (Myanmar). They are one of the major Naga ethnic groups of Myanmar, and mostly inhabit the Lahe and Hkamti Townships

The Naga people are well known for their artworks and elaborate architecture,that are at the heart of their spiritual and cultural lives.

The Morung Ceremonial Houses fulfill various functions; it is a sleeping place for the young unmarried men and in former raiding days it served as a guard-house for the warriors. Young people staying in the Morung learn about social practices and beliefs from their elders and initiation ceremonies, festivals and other rituals.

In every Morung, there is a huge wooden drum (slit gong drum) carved out of a single tree trunk. In days of head-taking, a captured head would be brought to the Morung or its slit gong, where the necessary rituals would then be performed.

The making of the slit gong drum and the building of the Morung houses with their rich decorations made the Naga famous for their wood craftsmanship. The specialist artists carve the wooden panels for the Morung house from single pieces of wood, with figures that symbolize their rituals and mythical figures, like human skulls, buffalos, tigers, lizards or head-hunting scenes like this fine old sculpture.

The tools used are simple: the Dao (machete), hand drill and chisel. Functional objects such as a husking table or dishes and small ornaments might be carved by any man, but the grand-scale carving of house-posts, grave effigies, village gates and log-gongs are done by ritual specialists or carved on special occasions.

When a new Morung is built a very large tree is cut in the forest areas during the harvest festival. The tree trunk is pulled out of the forest and up the hill with ropes. In some cases, more than 100 people can be seen pulling the ropes, and the actual journey may take a whole week.

This figure was carved away from a larger architectural post as seen in photos of similar historic Morung’s buildings (below). The way that the legs on this figure are jointed at the knees was almost certainly the artist’s ingenious way of dealing with a fault in the timber of lack of remaining timber to finish the legs from the knees below.

Provenance: Old Collection USA and The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic and Asian 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 neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us