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Papua New Guinea, Trobriand Islands, splash board, fine, old…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Sydney
Date:
28-May-2023
Lot No.
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Description:
Papua New Guinea, Trobriand Islands, splash board, fine, old and used piece from the Trobriand Islands and is part of the superstructure of the canoe. At the same time it is ritualistically the most important and significant carving on the canoe. The board is decorated with bird heads and typical curvilinear motifs and there are two large bird heads at right angles to one another on the top right hand corner of the board. The figure in the centre is extremely important, it is called a 'Bualai' and is a spirit figure designed to protect the passengers in the canoe. The lagim has been painted with trade paints in tones of red, white and blue, much favoured in the 20th century, since the natural pigments were very easily washed away by the seawater. Because of the age of the piece, there has been some loss of paint and age crack to the wood, 78 cm x 76 cm
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Tribal: New Guinean