A Superb Old New Guinea Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set NW Coast West Papua

A Superb Old New Guinea Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set from West Papua (Irian Jaya ) Indonesia

This beautiful old Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set was one of the first artworks that I collected on Lake Sentani 38 years ago. It comprises three pieces used for weaving fishing nets or other types of woven objects, there is a flat weaving shuttle that is finely carved from hardwood with pairs of totemic lizards at either end, and the flat part in the middle is carved with finely incised scrolling designs called fou which is a chiefly design used on artworks made for the chiefly families or Ondafi.  The two wood needle-like objects are also deeply incised with fou designs and the ends which are open to me look like bird’s beaks which you can see clearly in one photo.

The string that was used for weaving was hand-made from tree bark that was made by women in their spare time.  When I was there I didn’t see any traditional string or rope being made in Lake Sentani because they had nylon string & rope and making it from tree bark was no longer necessary.  In the remote villages in the Asmat & Marind Anim & Baliem Valley, I often saw women making tree bark strings whenever they had a spare moment.

I was told that this Weaving Set belonged to the family’s grandparents as an heirloom that was no longer used in weaving.

They are on two custom stands as seen in the photos

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic 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 in1996 (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.