18 - 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗱’𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲̂𝘁𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝘂 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗸 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹, 𝗰𝗼̂𝘁𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗿𝗲́𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱’𝗔𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗲, 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲–𝗡𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲-𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲́𝗲

𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗱’𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲̂𝘁𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝘂 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗸 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹, 𝗰𝗼̂𝘁𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗿𝗲́𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱’𝗔𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗲, 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲–𝗡𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲-𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲́𝗲 Late 19th – early 20th century Wood, red and white pigments 52 × 12 × 9 cm With base: 57 × 13 × 10.5 cm Originating from the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, in the Aitape region, this figure belongs to a particularly rare and poorly documented body of statuary. Located between Vanimo and Wewak, west of the mouth of the Sepik River, Aitape serves as a true point of contact between coastal cultures and the Sepik region, where a particularly distinctive sculptural language developed. In this vast region, anthropomorphic representations could embody ancestors, clan founders, or spiritual beings. They were kept in men’s ceremonial houses. Far from being mere commemorative images, they could represent the material presence of an ancestral power associated with the protection of the group, hunting, warfare, or collective prosperity. Among the Sawos of the Middle Sepik, for example, the waken/wan ancestor figures were kept in the ceremonial house, and some were linked to activities such as hunting and warfare. The hairstyle, rendered as a compact, schematic, and simplified mass, is surmounted by a protective totemic animal whose presence crowns the figure. The body is enlivened by incised details and stylized scarifications, while the abdominal and genital regions are rendered with greater definition. The alternation between flat surfaces, protruding volumes, and incisions gives the sculpture a dense, almost architectural rhythm. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 - Private collection, Germany, acquired in the 1930s - Sotheby’s New York auction, May 2001, lot 7 - Galerie Flak, Paris (France) - Pierre Mondoloni Collection, France 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Primitive Art – Sculpture Highlights, exhibition catalog [Maastricht, TEFAF, March 2007], ed. Serge Schoffel, 2007 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲́𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Comparable work exhibited and reproduced in: Shadows of New Guinea: Arts from the Great Island of Oceania in the Barbier-Mueller Collections, exhibition catalog |Paris, Mona Bismarck Foundation, October 4–November 25, 2006], Paris, Somogy; Geneva, Barbier-Mueller Museum, 2006, pp. 125 and 413, no. 63 Further Reading Allen Wardwell, *The Art of the Sepik River*, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1971 Jürg Schmid and Christin Kocher-Schmid, *Sons of the Crocodile: Men’s House Rituals and Initiation in Yensan, Central Iatmul, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea*, Ethnological Seminar of the University and Museum of Ethnology, 1992 Eric K. Silverman, “The Gender of the Cosmos: Totemism, Society, and Embodiment in the Sepik River,” *Oceania*, 67(1), 1996, pp. 30–49 John E. Terrell and Esther M. Schechter, “Deciphering the Lapita Code: The Aitape Ceramic Sequence and Late Survival of the ‘Lapita Face,’” Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 17, no. 1, 2007, pp. 59–85. Fundamental Archaeological Study of Aitape Barry Craig (ed.), *Living Spirits with Fixed Abodes: The Masterpieces Exhibition – Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery*, Crawford House Publ., 2010 Jean-Édouard Carlier, Art of Papua New Guinea, Paris, Galerie Voyageurs & Curieux, 2010, 160 pp., 124 objects John E. Terrell, *Exploring Prehistory on the Sepik Coast of Papua New Guinea*. *Fieldiana: Anthropology*, n.s. 42, Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 2011 Jean-Édouard Carlier, From Lake Sentani to the Village of Aitape, Paris, Galerie Voyageurs & Curieux, 2022, 68 pp., 18 objects, map, and bibliography.