Such oblong ‘gope boards’, coloured and with relief carvings on the front side, were placed by the men in the Papuan Gulf, on the southern coast of New Guinea, in big men’s houses, or hanged there. This was customary in the regions around the estuaries of the Fly, Wapo, Era and Purari rivers.
Such boards decorated in relief represent powerful ancestral spirits and mythical heroes. There are big ‘gope’ boards for entire Papuan clans and smaller boards (such as the present one) belonging to individual warriors. The heroes and ancestors depicted aid the owners in their hunting, in war and, formerly, in the now-defunct head-hunting. They play a role during initiation rituals and offer overall protection from illness and misfortune.
The present old ‘gope board’ displays in its frontal relief the skilfully executed face of an important ancestor (such as, for instance, the mythical hero ‘Irivake’). With a skilfully executed mirror image, detailed and symmetrical curves along the margins and the motif of a snake creeping up from the bottom along the central axis. All carved in relief and coloured black, red and white with soot and earth colours obtained from red ochre and white kaolin clay.
The plank from which this oblong ‘gope board’ was cut comes from an old war boat (see the reverse of the board). Wood from old war boats is frequently used to manufacture cultic objects in Papua, for it is supposed to lend them particular strength and power.
A perfect piece with good, old patina throughout and only minimal breaks to the relief, a few delicate cracks and age-related colour abrasion. Otherwise, no damage.
Height: 99 cm; width: 29 cm. Around 1900.

Provenance: Pursuant to information supplied by the consigner, the present ‘gope board’ from New Guinea belonged to a naval officer on one of two survey vessels (the ‘SMS Möwe’ or its sister-ship ‘SMS Planet’) that carried out extensive measurements (depth measurements with echo sounding) in the South Pacific, in the territory of former German colonies (New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Micronesia etc.) in the early 20th century (from about 1906 until 1914). Subsequently, the naval officer’s ‘gope board’ was passed down by inheritance within his family in Naumburg (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany). Currently: German private collection, Bremen. (ME)

Lit.: ‘Ozeanische Kunst’ von Anthony J. P. Meyer, Abb. 110; ‘New Guinea Art’ von Marcia & John Friede, Abb. 461, 464, 465; ‘Art Papou’, Katalog Musées de Marseille, Abb. 175, 176, 177, 178; ‘Melanesien. Schwarze Inseln der Südsee’, Katalog Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum für Völkerkunde, Köln, Abb. 260.