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Lot 8W

Large Kuvanamas Gable Mask, Blackwater Region, Papua New Guinea

13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$2,125 inc. premium

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Large Kuvanamas Gable Mask, Blackwater Region, Papua New Guinea

height 47 1/4in (120cm)

Provenance
Stan Moriarty, collected from a catholic missionary in 1959
Britton Nominees Pty Limited Collection, Sydney, acquired in 1980
Henry Davis York Collection, Sydney

A monumental bark and basketry mask with open mouth revealing teeth, mesmerizing and mysterious tubular eyes, an elongated nose and circular ears attached up high on each side; the facial plane of bark and decorated overall with reddish-orange, cream and black pigments.

Placed high above the entrance of ceremonial houses, considered to be the embodiment of the founding ancestors, the gable mask was intended to be seen from a distance. (Howarth, Crispin, Myth and Magic - Art of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, National Gallery of Australia, 2015, p. 133)

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