Null Front part of a war pirogue carved with a figurehead, representing a man-bi…

Description

Front part of a war pirogue carved with a figurehead, representing a man-bird divinity with the curved beak of a Papuan hornbill. Wood with light patina, wear marks, crack. Ramu River region, mouth of the eastern side of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. A certificate of authenticity from expert Serge Reynes will be given to the buyer.

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Front part of a war pirogue carved with a figurehead, representing a man-bird divinity with the curved beak of a Papuan hornbill. Wood with light patina, wear marks, crack. Ramu River region, mouth of the eastern side of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. A certificate of authenticity from expert Serge Reynes will be given to the buyer.

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Estim. 10 000 - 12 000 EUR

Fafore pirogue ornament Wakde and Yamna Islands region, Humboldt Bay, West Papua Carved and openworked wood, ochre and black pigments (one head previously restored) Height: 25 cm Provenance G.H. Ralph von Koenigswald Collection, Germany Kunsthandel Klefisch sale. Cologne. 12.5.2007 lot Galerie Anthony Meyer, Paris Once attached to the stern of a pirogue to protect it and its occupants, this polychrome, magical and symbolic ornament belongs to the fafore group, whose main characteristic is its wooden cross shape with carved ends. The complexity of the creation, the richness and finesse of its details are matched by its dimension, its highly symbolic value: "it is enough to recall the great number and importance of the rites surrounding the construction of a pirogue and all the ceremonies to which their inauguration gives rise to understand the value of the ornaments added to the boat and their participation both in the life of the native and in that of the clan to which the boat belongs". (Laroche Marie, " Ornements de pirogues de la Nouvelle-Guinée hollandaise " In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, IX° Série. Tome 4, 1943. pp. 85-103.) The complex, skilful and ingenious structure of this ornament consists of a lower part with a round cross-section, designed to be attached to the boat by means of a single hole, flanked by two transverse branches, each carved with a human head in the round, linked by a vertical decorative element composed of alternating carved and hollowed-out triangles. Marie Laroche, in her article on pirogue ornaments from Dutch New Guinea, classifies and lists fafore typologies, enabling us to stylistically relate this ornament to the category shown in figure 1.A, with a distinctive variation in the headdress, here in the form of a disc streaked with horizontal lines in relief. All four heads have the same features: oval shape, circular eyes, pointed, busted nose, triangular mouth. Another, more stylized double human representation can be observed, implicitly, discreetly suggested, it imposes itself on the decorated, openwork central part. The central geometrical motif, formed of lozenges and a cross, evokes the crouching position with knees apart of statues of Kowar ancestors from the same cultural area. This reference to the Kowar is explicitly carved in high relief on the lower transverse branch. Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald, (1902 -1982) German paleontologist and geologist, author of numerous studies on fossil hominids, particularly Homo erectus. He worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York before taking up a chair in paleontology created for him at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Following his retirement from the Utrecht chair, the Werner-Reimers Foundation awarded him a position in Germany, at the Natural History Museum of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt. in Frankfurt. In the course of his life, he collected numerous objects from Oceania, such as this fine example, which retains its pigments and the strength of its protective symbolism.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Canoe wheel, Wakde and Yamma lakes area Yamma, Humboldt Bay West Papua Carved wood Length: 47 cm Provenance: Cornette de Saint Cyr, PARIS - Cornette de Saint Cyr, PARIS - FEBRUARY 11. 2002 Lot 126 - Norbert Letourneur Collection In most Pacific archipelagos, the figure of the bird is associated with boats and is used to decorate pirogues. Linked to the cult of the spirits of the sea, representations of birds are used in various rituals linked to fishing and travel, testifying to the value and magical effectiveness of these ornaments. Because of their strategic position at the front of the pirogues, the prows are given special treatment and feature a sometimes complex iconography charged with great symbolic power. This bow, combining human figures and zoomorphic representations, consists of a rectangular end, the lower part of which was attached to the pirogue, the upper part being decorated with a stylized crocodile figure. The sculptural dynamic is reflected in the movement of the round head with its bulging eyes, projected horizontally into space, whose tense effect is accentuated by the posture of the bird sculpted in the round on the skull, its beak stretched skywards.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Front of a pirogue with sinuous decoration. Wood with faded patina. Old collector's label. Trobriand Islands. Papua New Guinea. Length : 62 cm

Estim. 60 - 100 EUR

PAPAOUSIA NEW GUINEA: Figure from the bow of a Sepik River pirogue representing a crocodile in carved wood. Mounted on base. H : 12 - L : 32 cm. Wear and tear.

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