Archives: Art For Sale

Art For Sale

A Fine Old Polynesian Headrest or Neckrest from Tonga Islands 19th Century

A Fine Old Polynesian Headrest or Neckrest is from Tonga Islands dating from the late 19th Century

This elegant form Headrest or Neckrest is from the Tonga Islands which is a group of Islands that is part of Polynesia in the Southern Pacific Ocean.  This type of Headrest is traditionally called “kali hahapo”, they are carved from a single piece of hardwood. This old and well used Headrest dates from the late 19th Century

Headrests that were used by people of chiefly descent were tapu or sacred because the head is considered sacred and should not be touched.  Headrests were also used to help keep a man’s elaborate hairstyle from being disturbed while sleeping.

The headrest is imbued with an especially significant spirituality because of its association with the mystical aura of sleep. Sleep was recognized as the most intimate relationship with the spirit realm, therefore the decoration on headrests was especially intertwined with their spiritual beliefs, and the human head is associated with concepts of power, therefore anything that was created to support this power was subsequently revered.

These beautiful form headrests are highly regarded by collectors for their elegant shape

Headrests like this one are prominent across diverse cultures and eras. From the dark vaults of Ancient Egyptian tombs to the banks of the Sepik River, headrests were utilized to support sleepers lying on their sides and preserve intricate hairstyles during the night. Many people from ancient civilizations slept on mats, therefore headrests were emblematic status symbols and were generally reserved for prominent figures in such cultures. Though they might look uncomfortable in comparison with our Western accommodations, their structure actually supports proper spine alignment.

Provenance: The Nicolai Michoutouckine Collection (1929-2010) Nicolai was an artist of international repute, Russian-born, and French he lived in Vanuatu for most of his life. A keen collector and promoter of Pacific arts for many decades, his collection was exhibited in a traveling exhibition that went around the world. He and his lifetime partner Aloi were also my good friends

Exhibited:  Art of the Pacific: The Nicolai Michoutouckine Collection:  in Russia, Sweden Japan Australia

The Todd Barlin Collection of Polynesian 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 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.

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 New Guinea Neckrest or Headrest Eastern Highlands Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Neckrest or Headrest Eastern Highlands Papua New Guinea

This old and well-used Headrest or Neckrest is from the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. In the form of a Zoomorphic animal that used the natural shape of the tree branch, it was made from. In this example, the artist added a small mouth which creates a further reading of it as an animal rather than a natural shape.

Three-legged headrests are found in other areas like East Africa and it must be a pleasing & functional manner in which to make a Headrest sturdy to lay one’s neck on when resting.  In New Guinea many of the cultural groups the men had elaborate hairstyles that took time and effort to maintain. The headrests kept their hair from touching the ground and getting flat while sleeping. We have a hard time understanding how this could be comfortable enough to be able to sleep but it must be okay since cultures around the world made & used wood headrests like this example.

I collected this Headrest from people near the area of Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands in 1986.  I have enjoyed looking at it ever since because any way you look at it its moving, it looks like an animal stretching its back as dogs do when the lean forward

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 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.

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 New Guinea Imunu Spirit Figure Papuan Gulf Area Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Imunu or Bioma Spirit Figure Papuan Gulf Papua New Guinea

This amazing sculpture was made by an artist from the Bamu River Area of the Papuan Gulf on the South Coast of Papua New Guinea. These figures are carved from the roots of the mangrove trees where the natural form is found in the tree and only small carved designs are added to represent powerful spirits that dwell in the bush and in isolated swamps. Imunu representing these spirits in their visible form is originally used to cajole or coax supernatural beings into attending to human needs and protection.

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 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.

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 New Guinea Bowl Tami or Siassi Island Huon Gulf Morobe Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Bowl Tami or Siassi Island Huon Gulf Morobe Province Papua New Guinea

This very old Food Bowl is from Tami or Siassi Island in the Huon Gulf Area of Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea. Carved from a single large piece of hardwood in the form of a Bird.  The outside rim of the bowl is the bird’s wings which act as handles they are incised with designs that make it look like feathers, the front of the bowl is finely carved with the bird’s head & the other end is the tail of the bird.

Old bowls like this example are family heirlooms that are kept through generations and used on ceremonial occasions. Important old bowls are also used in traditional dowry payments made by a young man’s family.  This old bowl dates from the late 19th Century.

Tami bowls were carved from a type of hardwood known as kwila. The process of hand-hollowing was a long and tedious process considering that nearby islands had mastered the much-expedited process of hollowing with fire. The incredible hardwood used for Tami-style bowls also made working with traditional Papua New Guinean tools like stone or shell adzes and animal teeth all the more difficult.

Designs were chosen with great care. Especially before production moved from Tami to Siassi, each bowl was marked by a design serving as the kinship group’s trademark. To copy the design of another carver was enough to start a feud, and it was often avoided. This is one of the reasons why the region’s bowl production was localized on Tami Island for as long as it was.  Birds which for the Tami were also representative of powerful spirits feature heavily in their art.

Provenance: Collected in 192os by  Dr Edwin Archibald Holland who was in New Guinea working from 1927 to 1933.

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 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.

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 Bowl Tami or Siassi Island Huon Gulf Morobe Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Bowl Tami or Siassi Island Huon Gulf Morobe Province Papua New Guinea

This monumental size Food Bowl is from Tami or Siassi Island in the Huon Gulf Area of Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea. Carved from a single large piece of hardwood in a deep oval-shaped bowl. The outside of the bowl is finely carved with high relief a prominent ancestor’s face at either end of the bowl. The other designs are stylised birds & fish carved in high relief and highlighted with a white lime infill into the design.  These old bowls are family heirlooms that are kept through generations and used on ceremonial occasions. Important old bowls are also used in traditional dowry payments made by a young man’s family.  This old bowl dates from the early 20th Century.

Tami bowls were carved from a type of hardwood known as kwila. The process of hand-hollowing was a long and tedious process considering that nearby islands had mastered the much-expedited process of hollowing with fire. The incredible hardwood used for Tami-style bowls also made working with traditional Papua New Guinean tools like stone or shell adzes and animal teeth all the more difficult.

Designs were chosen with great care. Especially before production moved from Tami to Siassi, each bowl was marked by a design serving as kinship group’s trademark. To copy the design of another carver was enough to start a feud, and it was often avoided. This is one of the reasons why the region’s bowl production was localised on Tami Island for as long as it was.  The anthropomorphic figure seen wearing a three-peaked headdress at opposite ends of the bowl pictured upside-down is a benevolent spirit called a balum and may come from the mainland New Guinea folk adjacent to Tami Island. Crocodiles which for the Tami were also representative of powerful spirits feature heavily. Generally, designs without anthropomorphic faces have pairs of either stylized crocodiles or lizards somewhere along their sides.

Provenance: Collected in 1920s by  Dr Edwin Archibald Holland who was in New from 1927 to 1933. 

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 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.

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 Food Pounder Coastal Sepik River Area Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Food Pounder Coastal Sepik River Area Papua New Guinea from 19th to early 20th Century 

This superb old Food Pounder is from the Coastal Sepik Area or Schouten Islands and it was used for smashing taro root into a pudding. The finely carved finial is in the form of an important clan male ancestor with a possum or cuscus on his head.  People in New Guinea made very beautiful daily-use objects like this food pounder that were always a reminder of their powerful clan ancestors.

Carved from a single piece of hardwood and it has a deep dark patina from years of use and from being stored in a smokey house.  Old pounders like this one were family heirlooms passed down through generations.

Provenance: The Dr Peter Elliot Collection Sydney Australia ( 1927-2014) Dr Elliot was a great collector of Oceanic Art and Indonesian among a large collection of Australian Indigenous & non-indigenous fine art.  Parts of his collection are now in major public collections around Australia and around the world.

The Todd Barlin Collection of Papua New Guinea and 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 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.

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 Abelam Spirit Figure East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Abelam Ngwallndu Spirit Figure, Sepik Plains  East Sepik Papua New Guinea

This Monumental Abelam Spirit Figure is one of the finest Abelam Sculptures I have ever seen.

These large sculptures, mainly depict the all-powerful ngwallndu spirits and in this case, a birdman-form spirit figure.

Abelam spirit houses are as distinctive as their art. From the air, they are said to represent a bird resting on the ground because the Abelam believe their founding ancestor was a bird. They are tall A-frame buildings (up to 80 feet /24 meters high)  with sweeping wings and a sharp drop from the front to the back, or from the head to the tail of the bird.

When seen by the initiates for the first time inside the sacred men’s house the Spirit Figures should shimmer with spiritual energy, the ochre painting on the figures is a very important part of Abelam’s Art.  This is the original ochre paintwork when it was collected in the village setting in the 1960s.  The Bird Man figure with an extended belly and head is surmounted by an ancestor figure laying horizontally & on the opposite side of an ancestor’s head, there are other totemic animals present in this sculpture; a bird, and a snake.

Provence: Collected in the 1960s by Dr Fred Gerrits.

Gerrits was born in 1933 in Bandung, in Indonesia. After graduating with a degree in medicine in Holland, he settled in Papua New Guinea in the 1950s, where he met his future wife Nel. As of 1964, the Gerrits worked in various hospitals in New Guinea until Fred was appointed as the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Officer for the provinces of West and East Sepik, with a base in Maprik at the foot of the Prince Alexander Mountains. Gerrits collection is featured in major museum collections around the world.

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 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.

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 Asmat Canoe Prow Ornament West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

A Superb Old New Guinea Asmat Canoe Prow Ornament from the South Coast of West Papua (Irian Jaya) Indonesia 

This very fine Asmat Sculpture was once on the front of a large war canoe that held about 20 to 25  warriors standing up and paddling.  The canoe & canoe prow ornament were caved from a single large tree.  The Asmat relation to trees is part of their creation mythology where the creator Fumeripitsj carved the first Asmat people from a tree & brought them to life by playing his drum.

The main figure in this fine sculpture is a highly abstracted figure of a bird, likely a black Cockatoo which is an important Asmat symbol associated with ritual headhunting in their past.  The canoe prow can be viewed in either position either as a vertical or horizontal sculpture, my photos show both views.

Michael Clark Rockefeller who was collecting Asmat Art and was presumed dead there in November 1961 was when the world became aware of the Asmat People & their art. The artworks he collected are still beautifully displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

This amazing canoe ornament I field collected in the remote Northwest Asmat area in 1985.  I was told that it belonged to the grandfather of the owner going back probably to the 1940s or 1950s,  it was kept as a family heirloom.

This Canoe Prow along with other artworks was collected by Todd Barlin over a 2-year period from 1985-1986, most of these artworks are now in major museum collections around the world including The Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris. When you walk into the Oceanic Art Pavilion the first thing you see are monumental Ancestor Poles from the Asmat & Mimika along with a Soul Boat, Shields, and Dance Costumes from the Asmat & Mimika, all of those artworks were collected by me at the same time as this Canoe Prow.  Above are two photos from the groundbreaking exhibition “The Asmat & Mimika” at the National Museum of African & Oceanic Art in Paris now part of  The Musee du Quai Branly Museum.

Provenance: Collected by Todd Barlin and later sold to Peter Hallinan and it was part of his world-famous collection displayed in his home on the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia.  

The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

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 New Guinea Asmat Ancestor Figure West Papua Irian Jaya

SOLD PLEASE SEE OTHER ARTWORKS

A Fine Old New Guinea Asmat Ancestor Figure West Papua Irian Jaya

This beautifully carved Maternity Figure is from the Asmat People on the South  Coast of West Papua Indonesia. Likely carved in the 1950s-1960s period, it shows the great artistic skills of Asmat Master Cavers or Wow Ipits in the Asmat Language.  The standing female figure with her hands raised towards her chin is a common Asmat theme.  The baby holding onto the back of her mother with her arms holding the mother’s shoulders and the legs wrapped around her waist.

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.

I spent a lot of time in the Asmat region in the early 1980s and Ancestor Figures of this quality in the Coastal and Northwest Asmat Areas were rare. Many of the artworks I field collected then are now in major museum collections around the world including The Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris, when you walk into the Oceanic Art Pavilion at The Musee du Quai Branly the first thing you see is the monumental Ancestor Poles from the Asmat & Mimika along with Dance Costumes Shields and large Soul Canoe , all of these were field collected by me. Originally they were in an exhibition ” Asmat et Mimika at The National Museum of African and Oceanic Art in 1996 (now that museum is part of The Musee du Quai Branly).  The exhibition the Asmat and Mimika in 1996 was published in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine see the link below and a photo of the exhibition above.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

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 specializes 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 neighbors.

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 Pair of New Guinea Carved Portrait Heads Middle Sepik River East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Pair of New Guinea Carved Portrait Heads Middle Sepik River East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

This Pair of finely carved and ochre-painted Ancestor Portrait Heads are from the Iatmul People in the Middle Sepik River Area, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

These Ancestor Heads are so sensitively rendered as if they are portraits of real people that the artist knew. Depicting a male & female ancestor, they are each carved from a single piece of hardwood and decorated with real human hair and caved wood ear ornaments that look like real shells, the eyes have inset shells, and the ear lobes have shell earrings, finely painted in red, white & black ochre.

The base of these heads are socketed so that they could have been placed on a larger figurative sculpture as is common in the Middle Sepik area. Sometimes these wood heads were replacements for older over-modeled skulls of deceased relatives that were part of the ancient ceremonies of ancestor worship.

Tribes along the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea practiced a unique form of ancestor skull worship. Taking clay and mud from the riverbed, they would coat the skulls, giving them a new skin. In some cases, the ancestor’s head was mounted atop a carved figure, giving a “body” to the ancestor.

These earthy vestiges of the past were then painted, traced with designs, and decorated with wood, bone, fiber, real human hair, fur, and shells. When decorating the skull, it was believed that the spirit and vitality of the deceased would channel through the head, and help advise living descendants and imbue them with power.

Provenance: Collected in 1958 by an Australian Colonial Patrol Officer & 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 honored 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 specializes 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 neighbors.

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.

 

 

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Oceanic Arts Australia

64 Elizabeth Street, Paddington NSW 2021 Sydney Australia

T (+61) 409 560 316
E: info@oceanicartsaustralia.com

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