A Fine Old New Guinea Carved Pig by Mutuaga Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea 19th Century

A Finely Carved Figure of a Pig by the 19^th Century Massim Master Carver Mutuaga, (1860–1920) Dagodagoisu Village, Sua Area, Milne Bay Province, New Guinea

In a field where virtually all of the many thousands of carvers remain unidentified, Mutuaga stands alone as a master carver whose work has been celebrated, collected and is also the subject of much scholarly research and publication.

Born around 1860, Mutuaga lived and worked in Dagodagoisu village in the Milne Bay province of Papua New Guinea. He died in the early 1920s. We know a great deal about him, in part because he was befriended by Charles Abel of the London Missionary Society. This friendship began in the 1890s.

Although Mutuaga did not adopt Christianity, Abel became his patron and promoted his carvings among European missionaries, traders, and visitors in the area. Abel provided an outlet for Mutuaga’s carvings beyond the traditional exchange practices of his community. Commodores and even two of Papua’s first governors acquired Mutuaga’s sculptures.

Many of these works later found their way into galleries and museums across the world, even into the collections of artists such as Jacob Epstein.

We are also fortunate in the extensive research and writings of the art historian the late Dr. Harry Beran who has studied Mutuaga at length. Beran identified Mutuaga and his body of work through some hundred sculptures that had been languishing largely unrecognized in museum collections and were published in the book “MUTUAGA A 19^th Century Master Carver “1996

Harry was an old friend and this Mutuaga Pig & another Mutuaga Standing Ancestor Figure were to be published in an updated book on artworks by Mutuaga.

Provence: 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.