Janus Figure

Boiken People, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

 

Wook, pigments

76 cm

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A good old Boiken ancestral figure from a known corpus of works (see image with examples) The specificity of this one is that it is janus, with both sides decorated with a crouching figure. 

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The sculpture is organic yet structured. Layers of pigments attest to its long use in ceremonial contexts and overall the work gives the "juice" one would expect from an ancient papuan artifact.

(custom base)

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Provenance: Ulrich Kortmann, Germany ; Michel Evans, France.

Price: 4000 Euros enquiry