Important Yipwon Figure - SOLD
Yimam tribe, Korewori River, Sepik Region, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Wood, natural pigments
Height: 76.5 inches (194 cm)
Provenance: Collected in situ by Dr Philip Goldman 1957-1969
Pierre Darteville – Brussels, Belgium
Chris and Anna Thorpe personal collection, Sydney, Australia
Art Loss Register certificate #S00255682
Revered by Western artists and collectors for their radically stylized conception of the human form, the distinctive one-legged hook figures or yipwon, of the Korewori River region caused a sensation when the first examples reached the West in the late 1950’s.Depicting primordial ancestral spirits, these distinctive hook figures created by the Yimam people, played an essential role in ensuring success in both hunting and warfare.The yipwon, when supernaturally activated with ritual offerings, served as a potent vessel into which the spirits were called to inhabit before the commencement of a hunt or raid. The spirit of the yipwon would then journey into the night to slay the souls of the intended game or human enemies, enabling the men to easily dispatch their targets the following morning.If the yipwon proved triumphant, the men showed their gratitude by ritually offering it a portion of the game or blood from the enemy.
Of classic form, the yipwon presented here reveals elements of both the internal and external anatomy of the supernatural ancestor it embodies. The broad spine of the figure supports a series of opposing concentric hooks, representing stylized ribs, that frame a central projecting element symbolizing the heart. The phallus is depicted below in a correspondently stylized form, and the figure is centered and supported atop a singular muscular leg and foot. The head of the yipwon is framed above by an arched summit crest, adorned by an abstractly rendered feather ornament, with a single arm reaching out to touch the chin. The spirit’s masculine visage is powerfully carved, its aggressive prognathous profile further highlighted by curvilinear traces of red ocher pigment. The sculpture reveals a time-worn patina resulting from the many decades of ritual use and care within the Yimam community men’s house.
This remarkable yipwon was collected in situ along the Korewori River by the legendary British collector, dealer, and anthropologist Philip Goldman between 1957 and 1969. As a result of his numerous expeditions through New Guinea’s interior during this period, Goldman is credited for discovering some of the finest and most important sculpture from the Korewori region, much of which he notably revealed to the public at his Gallery 43 in London; many of the sculptures subsequently finding a home in some of the world’s most important collections of tribal art. A related yipwon figure collected by Goldman, and later acquired by Friede’s Jolika Collection, sold with Sothebys Paris for 363,211 USD in December of 2009.
With their radical reconfiguration of the human figure, many scholars consider the yipwon figures of the Korewori to be true precursors of modern sculpture, including Henry Moore’s iconic “Three Points” (1939-40) and Alberto Giacometti’s variations of “Woman Standing” (1950-58), both sets of works curiously predating the profound arrival of yipwon figures in the West. The first image of a yipwon figure however first publicly appeared earlier in 1929, as part of an extensive report on Papua New Guinea in the widely distributed National Geographic magazine. That photograph was taken by the German missionary and ethnographer Father Franz Kirschbaum of the Society of the Divine Word, who was responsible for assembling much of the Vatican’s collection of New Guinea art, and who can also to be credited with introducing the Western world to the remarkable yipwon, and so perhaps influencing the course of modern sculpture.
Yimam tribe, Korewori River, Sepik Region, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Wood, natural pigments
Height: 76.5 inches (194 cm)
Provenance: Collected in situ by Dr Philip Goldman 1957-1969
Pierre Darteville – Brussels, Belgium
Chris and Anna Thorpe personal collection, Sydney, Australia
Art Loss Register certificate #S00255682
Revered by Western artists and collectors for their radically stylized conception of the human form, the distinctive one-legged hook figures or yipwon, of the Korewori River region caused a sensation when the first examples reached the West in the late 1950’s.Depicting primordial ancestral spirits, these distinctive hook figures created by the Yimam people, played an essential role in ensuring success in both hunting and warfare.The yipwon, when supernaturally activated with ritual offerings, served as a potent vessel into which the spirits were called to inhabit before the commencement of a hunt or raid. The spirit of the yipwon would then journey into the night to slay the souls of the intended game or human enemies, enabling the men to easily dispatch their targets the following morning.If the yipwon proved triumphant, the men showed their gratitude by ritually offering it a portion of the game or blood from the enemy.
Of classic form, the yipwon presented here reveals elements of both the internal and external anatomy of the supernatural ancestor it embodies. The broad spine of the figure supports a series of opposing concentric hooks, representing stylized ribs, that frame a central projecting element symbolizing the heart. The phallus is depicted below in a correspondently stylized form, and the figure is centered and supported atop a singular muscular leg and foot. The head of the yipwon is framed above by an arched summit crest, adorned by an abstractly rendered feather ornament, with a single arm reaching out to touch the chin. The spirit’s masculine visage is powerfully carved, its aggressive prognathous profile further highlighted by curvilinear traces of red ocher pigment. The sculpture reveals a time-worn patina resulting from the many decades of ritual use and care within the Yimam community men’s house.
This remarkable yipwon was collected in situ along the Korewori River by the legendary British collector, dealer, and anthropologist Philip Goldman between 1957 and 1969. As a result of his numerous expeditions through New Guinea’s interior during this period, Goldman is credited for discovering some of the finest and most important sculpture from the Korewori region, much of which he notably revealed to the public at his Gallery 43 in London; many of the sculptures subsequently finding a home in some of the world’s most important collections of tribal art. A related yipwon figure collected by Goldman, and later acquired by Friede’s Jolika Collection, sold with Sothebys Paris for 363,211 USD in December of 2009.
With their radical reconfiguration of the human figure, many scholars consider the yipwon figures of the Korewori to be true precursors of modern sculpture, including Henry Moore’s iconic “Three Points” (1939-40) and Alberto Giacometti’s variations of “Woman Standing” (1950-58), both sets of works curiously predating the profound arrival of yipwon figures in the West. The first image of a yipwon figure however first publicly appeared earlier in 1929, as part of an extensive report on Papua New Guinea in the widely distributed National Geographic magazine. That photograph was taken by the German missionary and ethnographer Father Franz Kirschbaum of the Society of the Divine Word, who was responsible for assembling much of the Vatican’s collection of New Guinea art, and who can also to be credited with introducing the Western world to the remarkable yipwon, and so perhaps influencing the course of modern sculpture.
Yimam tribe, Korewori River, Sepik Region, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Wood, natural pigments
Height: 76.5 inches (194 cm)
Provenance: Collected in situ by Dr Philip Goldman 1957-1969
Pierre Darteville – Brussels, Belgium
Chris and Anna Thorpe personal collection, Sydney, Australia
Art Loss Register certificate #S00255682
Revered by Western artists and collectors for their radically stylized conception of the human form, the distinctive one-legged hook figures or yipwon, of the Korewori River region caused a sensation when the first examples reached the West in the late 1950’s.Depicting primordial ancestral spirits, these distinctive hook figures created by the Yimam people, played an essential role in ensuring success in both hunting and warfare.The yipwon, when supernaturally activated with ritual offerings, served as a potent vessel into which the spirits were called to inhabit before the commencement of a hunt or raid. The spirit of the yipwon would then journey into the night to slay the souls of the intended game or human enemies, enabling the men to easily dispatch their targets the following morning.If the yipwon proved triumphant, the men showed their gratitude by ritually offering it a portion of the game or blood from the enemy.
Of classic form, the yipwon presented here reveals elements of both the internal and external anatomy of the supernatural ancestor it embodies. The broad spine of the figure supports a series of opposing concentric hooks, representing stylized ribs, that frame a central projecting element symbolizing the heart. The phallus is depicted below in a correspondently stylized form, and the figure is centered and supported atop a singular muscular leg and foot. The head of the yipwon is framed above by an arched summit crest, adorned by an abstractly rendered feather ornament, with a single arm reaching out to touch the chin. The spirit’s masculine visage is powerfully carved, its aggressive prognathous profile further highlighted by curvilinear traces of red ocher pigment. The sculpture reveals a time-worn patina resulting from the many decades of ritual use and care within the Yimam community men’s house.
This remarkable yipwon was collected in situ along the Korewori River by the legendary British collector, dealer, and anthropologist Philip Goldman between 1957 and 1969. As a result of his numerous expeditions through New Guinea’s interior during this period, Goldman is credited for discovering some of the finest and most important sculpture from the Korewori region, much of which he notably revealed to the public at his Gallery 43 in London; many of the sculptures subsequently finding a home in some of the world’s most important collections of tribal art. A related yipwon figure collected by Goldman, and later acquired by Friede’s Jolika Collection, sold with Sothebys Paris for 363,211 USD in December of 2009.
With their radical reconfiguration of the human figure, many scholars consider the yipwon figures of the Korewori to be true precursors of modern sculpture, including Henry Moore’s iconic “Three Points” (1939-40) and Alberto Giacometti’s variations of “Woman Standing” (1950-58), both sets of works curiously predating the profound arrival of yipwon figures in the West. The first image of a yipwon figure however first publicly appeared earlier in 1929, as part of an extensive report on Papua New Guinea in the widely distributed National Geographic magazine. That photograph was taken by the German missionary and ethnographer Father Franz Kirschbaum of the Society of the Divine Word, who was responsible for assembling much of the Vatican’s collection of New Guinea art, and who can also to be credited with introducing the Western world to the remarkable yipwon, and so perhaps influencing the course of modern sculpture.