Six Small Amulet Figures, Lower Sepik River area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

These finely carved small figures are in the form of an anthropomorphic bird men ancestors that represent a category of powerful ancestral beings called waken.  Small amulet figures like these were kept by men in small woven bags or even sometimes woven into their beards. They were used for magical purposes such as; love magic, controlling the weather, hunting for wild pigs & cassowaries, to protect the owner and his family from malevolent sorcerers & the spirit world. These Amulet Figures are from the Lower Sepik River area in The East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea.

Provenance:  Deaccessioned from The Denver Fine Art Museum Collection,  You can see the museum numbers on the back of 6 of the figures.

The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art

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