Rare and Important Highlands Decoy Figure
Fore culture, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Height: 41 inches (104 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in New Guinea in the 1960’s by Stan Moriarty of Syndey, Australia / Stephen Kellner Gallery – Sydney, Australia / Wayne Heathcote – London, UK
Art Loss Register certificate #S00256020
Decoy figures from the New Guinea Highlands were regarded as the home of protective spirits and were erected alongside special walled enclosures along the perimeter of the village, as they were believed to protect the village from enemy night raids. These figures are exceedingly rare, and this example offered can assuredly be regarded as one of the finest of its type. The majority of known decoy figures are quite stiff sculpturally, but this figure by contrast is decidedly animated and whimsical in its form and expression, boldly and confidently carved by a master carver. The body of the figure still retains its intricate painted motifs, and the figure is adorned with all its original native accoutrements, including a kina shell pectoral and a woven headdress of vividly colored lorikeet and parrot feathers.
Fore culture, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Height: 41 inches (104 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in New Guinea in the 1960’s by Stan Moriarty of Syndey, Australia / Stephen Kellner Gallery – Sydney, Australia / Wayne Heathcote – London, UK
Art Loss Register certificate #S00256020
Decoy figures from the New Guinea Highlands were regarded as the home of protective spirits and were erected alongside special walled enclosures along the perimeter of the village, as they were believed to protect the village from enemy night raids. These figures are exceedingly rare, and this example offered can assuredly be regarded as one of the finest of its type. The majority of known decoy figures are quite stiff sculpturally, but this figure by contrast is decidedly animated and whimsical in its form and expression, boldly and confidently carved by a master carver. The body of the figure still retains its intricate painted motifs, and the figure is adorned with all its original native accoutrements, including a kina shell pectoral and a woven headdress of vividly colored lorikeet and parrot feathers.
Fore culture, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Height: 41 inches (104 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in New Guinea in the 1960’s by Stan Moriarty of Syndey, Australia / Stephen Kellner Gallery – Sydney, Australia / Wayne Heathcote – London, UK
Art Loss Register certificate #S00256020
Decoy figures from the New Guinea Highlands were regarded as the home of protective spirits and were erected alongside special walled enclosures along the perimeter of the village, as they were believed to protect the village from enemy night raids. These figures are exceedingly rare, and this example offered can assuredly be regarded as one of the finest of its type. The majority of known decoy figures are quite stiff sculpturally, but this figure by contrast is decidedly animated and whimsical in its form and expression, boldly and confidently carved by a master carver. The body of the figure still retains its intricate painted motifs, and the figure is adorned with all its original native accoutrements, including a kina shell pectoral and a woven headdress of vividly colored lorikeet and parrot feathers.