Pigment dish Aire Bolken - Papua New Guinea Carved wood Late 19th - early 20th century Diameter 18 cm Provenance : Didier Zanette private collection French private collection This ancient dish is characterized by a very small size and a deep, shiny patina rarely found on this type of piece. Its actual function may also have been to prepare pigments for subsequent application to statues and ceremonial masks, again with the aim of communicating with the ancestors.

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