A Superb Old New Guinea Dance Staff from Vitu Island in the Bismarck Sea off Northern New Britain Island Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Dance Staff from Vitu Island in the Bismarck Sea off Northern New Britain Island Papua New Guinea

Many of the traditional Dance Ceremonies performed in New Britain & the surrounding Islands such Witu/ Vitu, the dancers often held Dance Wands or Dance Clubs during their performance.

Masked dancers representing powerful ancestral spirits or spirits from the bush or ocean also often held  Dance Wands or Dance Staffs, this beautiful old example must have been used in this manner.  The refined carving of an Ancestral Face at the top followed by an animated totemic snakes down most of the length of the club.  It has beautiful colours; blue from Rickets Soap Cake, with white & traces of red & the whole club has an old dry patina from long use & handling.

In New Britain Island which is culturally & artistically linked to the Witu Islands, the Tolai People, Sulka People, Nakanai People, and Baining People to name a few all used Dance Wands in their Dance Performances with Masked Dancers

Long ago I owned another Witu Island Dance Wand which had a three-dimensional head in the form of the well-known Witu Helmet Masks, this was collected in the 1960s but the example here is older.

Provenance:  The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

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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 just a couple hours’ flight to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbors.

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