Description:

Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik River region, Iatmul peoples, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. A large, hand-carved wooden canoe prow resembling a crocodile with an elongated snout and gaping jaws. The inverted V-form prow has a flat base, a bifurcated lower body, and a thick shoulder. The front features a highly stylized anthropomorphic face with recessed eyes, a tall nose with flared nostrils, a protruding tongue, a raised vertical crest along the chin, and dozens of curvilinear scarification marks across the cheeks, chin, and crested forehead. Faded layers of brown pigment are visible across the prow, and thin layers of moss have created a pale green hue in some areas. Size: 6.7" W x 28.1" H (17 cm x 71.4 cm)

Provenance: ex-private Maui, Hawaii, USA collection, acquired around 1990

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#152709

  • Condition: A couple of small knots missing on chin and one temple as shown. Minor nicks and abrasions to face, shoulder, top, peripheries, and verso, with softening to some finer details, fading and chipping to original pigment, and several stable fissures, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits and pigmentation remains throughout, and thin mossy growth in some areas.

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May 21, 2020 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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