A Superb Old New Guinea Pottery Vessel Aibom Village Chambri Lakes Area East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Pottery Vessel Called Damarau from Aibom Village in the Chambri Lakes Area in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

This beautiful Old Aibom  Sago Storage Pottery with the fine clan Totemic Eagle Face.  Aibom Village was central to a long flourishing traditional trading ring, they made magnificent Pottery Vessels like this superb example that are used for storing Sago flour, these were traded to villages up and down the Sepik River. There is a constant need to store Sago as it’s the major food source for many people in New Guinea and these magnificent jars are made just for that purpose. The largest Sago Storage Pottery vessels are called Damarau and are used for the long-term storage of smoked sago.

The pottery is decorated with faces that represent either humans, animals, or bush spirits. In this case example, the face is finely rendered in the form of a totemic clan eagle It is the women who make the jars, while the men decorate them by carving faces in fresh clay and painting the jars once they are fired.

The Pottery of Papua New Guinea was well documented in the great publication  ” The Traditional Pottery of Papua New Guinea by Patricia May & Margaret Tuckson & Helen Dennet 1982

To get a large Pottery Vessel like this back to Australia in perfect condition is a huge accomplishmemt !

Provenance: Keith Adams (b. 1922 -1996) Documentary Film Maker & Crocodile Hunter and Adventurer

Keith Adams’s son told this story:
“ My father was so keen to get these pots back to Australia that he chartered a small plane to fly them back to Port Moresby from Angoram, each pot had its own seat on the airplane, they were crated & shipped from Port Moresby and eventually arrived in Australia in near perfect condition.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

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 very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbors.

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