New Guinea, Gulf of Papua: a flat figure in relief, called ‘bioma’, representing the mythical hero and ancestor ‘Irivake’.
New Guinea, Gulf of Papua: a flat figure in relief, called ‘bioma’, representing the mythical hero and ancestor ‘Irivake’.
Such relief figures, carved out of lightweight wood (often of the ‘magically potent’ wood of old war boats) were painted black (using soot) and white and red (using earth pigments), and were placed inside and in front of the Papuan men’s houses, in the area of the Era River and Wapo Creek in the Gulf of Papua (southeast coast of New Guinea). These ‘bioma’ figures symbolise the mighty mythical hero and ancestor Irivake, who is associated with hunting fortune and with the (long abandoned) custom of head-hunting. With the erection of a ‘bioma’ figure, the power and hunting luck of the ancestor Irivake was meant to transfer to the owner. A typical object from the culture of the people in the Gulf of Papua, New Guinea. In good condition, no damage! Height: 113 cm; Width: 28 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Austrian Private Collection.
Lit.:
'New Guinea Art' by Marcia & John Friede, ill. 451; 'Art Papou', Musées de Marseille catalogue, ill. 185, 186, 187; 'Melanesien. Schwarze Inseln der Südsee', Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum Köln catalogue, ill. 262, 263; 'Ozeanische Kunst' by Anthony J. P. Meyer, ill. 106.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
09.06.2016 - 17:00
- Starting bid:
-
EUR 1,400.-
New Guinea, Gulf of Papua: a flat figure in relief, called ‘bioma’, representing the mythical hero and ancestor ‘Irivake’.
Such relief figures, carved out of lightweight wood (often of the ‘magically potent’ wood of old war boats) were painted black (using soot) and white and red (using earth pigments), and were placed inside and in front of the Papuan men’s houses, in the area of the Era River and Wapo Creek in the Gulf of Papua (southeast coast of New Guinea). These ‘bioma’ figures symbolise the mighty mythical hero and ancestor Irivake, who is associated with hunting fortune and with the (long abandoned) custom of head-hunting. With the erection of a ‘bioma’ figure, the power and hunting luck of the ancestor Irivake was meant to transfer to the owner. A typical object from the culture of the people in the Gulf of Papua, New Guinea. In good condition, no damage! Height: 113 cm; Width: 28 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Austrian Private Collection.
Lit.:
'New Guinea Art' by Marcia & John Friede, ill. 451; 'Art Papou', Musées de Marseille catalogue, ill. 185, 186, 187; 'Melanesien. Schwarze Inseln der Südsee', Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum Köln catalogue, ill. 262, 263; 'Ozeanische Kunst' by Anthony J. P. Meyer, ill. 106.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
|
Buyers hotline
Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
kundendienst@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 200 |
| Auction: | Tribal Art - Africa |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 09.06.2016 - 17:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 04.06. - 09.06.2016 |