A Pair of Fine Old Micronesian Mortlock Island Tapuana Masks Federated States of Micronesia

A Pair of Fine Old Micronesian Mortlock Island Tapuana Masks Federated States of Micronesia

This pair of finely carved & painted masks are from the Mortlock Islands in Micronesia. The masks are called Tapuana in the local language and they represented important male and female ancestors.

The masks were used as ornaments in the ceremonial house and the ceremonial house was the location of performances by members of a secret society, in which the god of wind was appeased to protect the breadfruit crops from hurricanes and storms.

The Mortlock Islands are three small atolls in the state of Chuk part of the Federated States of Micronesia.  The Japanese were the Colonial ruler in Micronesia from 1914 – 1945.  These masks are definitely from the Japanese Colonial era they have Japanese characters written on the back of one of the masks.

Provenance:  The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea & Micronesian 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. 

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