Papua-New Guinea, Middle Sepik Area. Abelam. Open work Men's House Plaque. Wood, pigment. Height: 61 inches Width: 12 inch...

Description

Papua-New Guinea, Middle Sepik Area
Abelam
Open work Men's House Plaque
Wood, pigment
Height: 61 inches Width: 12 inches Depth: 5 ½ inches

Painted, openwork plaques carved in mid-depth relief lined the walls of some Abelam men's ceremonial houses. They represented a range of ancestral and protective spirit figures and were regularly presented, as here, in heraldically composed, frontally displayed posture flanked and surmounted by further bird and reptilian supporting spirits. The bright color, with its overlay of smaller-sized linear and dotted patterning, gave a shimmering brilliance to the dimly-lit interior.
There is overall pigment flaking, the proper right top bird is missing the tip of the beak, and old breaks at several jointures have been reglued.

Provenance:
From an Arkansas estate; collected in 1947
TAD Tribal Art and Design (Taylor A. Dale), Santa Fe
Gary Hendershott, Little Rock



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