Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

PERSONNAGE GUERRERO EN SERPENTINE Mexique, Culture du Guerrero, influence Olmèque, 350-100 av. J.C.
TÊTE HACHA VERACRUZ EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE Mexique, Culture Veracruz, Période classique, 450-750 ap. J.C.

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

MASQUE ANTHROPOZOOMORPHE EN COQUILLAGE Mexique, Culture Maya, Période classique, 450-750 ap. J.C.
TÊTE EN STUC MAYA Mexique, Culture Maya, région du Yucatan, Période classique, 500-900 ap. J.C
VASE MAYA CYLINDRIQUE EN TERRE CUITE Mexique, Culture Maya, Période préclassique, 500-900 ap. J.C.
PERSONNAGE DEBOUT EN TERRE CUITE COLIMA Mexique, El Chanal-Colima, Période postclassique, 900-1521 ap. J.C.
STATUE AZTÈQUE DE CHALCHIUHTLICUE, DÉESSE DE LA FERTILITÉ, EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
STATUETTE AZTÈQUE DE XIPE TOTEC EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
MASQUE FUNÉRAIRE CHANCAY EN BOIS Pérou, Culture Chancay, 1100-1450 ap. J.C.
URNE FUNÉRAIRE CALCHAQUÍ EN TERRE CUITE Argentine, Style Santa Maria, Vallées de Santa María et Calchaquí, Diaguita-Calchaquí, Époque tardive, 1000-1400 ap. J.C.
VASE NICOYA REPRÉSENTANT UN JAGUAR EN TERRE CUITE Costa Rica, Culture Guanacaste, Civilisation Chorotega, ca. XIIe siècle ap. J.C.
Rare Mangbetu Standing Couple, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fine Ceremonial Scarf, Palembang Region, South Sumatra
Fine Ceremonial Scarf, South Sumatra circa 1910 silk, framed78 x 36 1/4in (198.1 x 92cm)ProvenanceEuropean Private Collection
Previous Lot
Next Lot
Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea image 1
Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea image 2
Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea image 3
Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea image 4
Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea image 5
Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea image 6
Lot 96

Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea

African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art Including the Robert & Nancy Nooter Collection
11 May 2021, 11:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$106,562.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our African and Oceanic Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Exceptional Sawos Ceremonial Hook Figure, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea

samban
Wood, pigment, plant fiber
height 34in (86.4cm)

Provenance
Barmen-Wuppertal Van Heydt Collection, 1910
Rheinische Mission Society, Gesellschaft
Wayne Heathcote, Brussels/New York/London
Private Collection

Crispin Howarth notes, "Samban is the Iatmul [at Sawow] name given to wonderfully sculptural suspension hooks along the Sepik River. The most commonly encountered are functional domestic objects, anchor-like in form, suspended from the rafters of a house by rope. They are designed to keep netted fibre bags of food, sago cakes and smoked fish, assorted valuables and occasionally even sleeping babies out of harm's way.

Samban take many diverse forms and truly attest to the artistry of the Sepik carvers. Each one is beautifully carved in the form of a specific named ancestor or spirit being." (Myth and Magic - Art of the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, National Gallery of Australia, 2015, p. 145)

Of classic Sawos form, with rounded elements and proportionally large head with naturalistic features, the ancestral female figure stands perched on the hook element with her legs slightly bent at the knees supporting the rounded torso with incised zigzag design on the lower back and back right side, another diamond design incised around her navel below her diminutive breasts pointing downwards; the remnant of her right arm indicate the forearms were raised upwards above her rounded shoulders, each with a bird with large beak perched on top, framing her head with her eyes gazing outward; encrusted ochre patina with craquelure to the facial pigments.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

PERSONNAGE GUERRERO EN SERPENTINE Mexique, Culture du Guerrero, influence Olmèque, 350-100 av. J.C.
TÊTE HACHA VERACRUZ EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE Mexique, Culture Veracruz, Période classique, 450-750 ap. J.C.
MASQUE ANTHROPOZOOMORPHE EN COQUILLAGE Mexique, Culture Maya, Période classique, 450-750 ap. J.C.
TÊTE EN STUC MAYA Mexique, Culture Maya, région du Yucatan, Période classique, 500-900 ap. J.C
VASE MAYA CYLINDRIQUE EN TERRE CUITE Mexique, Culture Maya, Période préclassique, 500-900 ap. J.C.
PERSONNAGE DEBOUT EN TERRE CUITE COLIMA Mexique, El Chanal-Colima, Période postclassique, 900-1521 ap. J.C.
STATUE AZTÈQUE DE CHALCHIUHTLICUE, DÉESSE DE LA FERTILITÉ, EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
STATUETTE AZTÈQUE DE XIPE TOTEC EN PIERRE VOLCANIQUE Mexique, Culture Aztèque (ou Mexica), 1400-1520 ap. J.C.
MASQUE FUNÉRAIRE CHANCAY EN BOIS Pérou, Culture Chancay, 1100-1450 ap. J.C.
URNE FUNÉRAIRE CALCHAQUÍ EN TERRE CUITE Argentine, Style Santa Maria, Vallées de Santa María et Calchaquí, Diaguita-Calchaquí, Époque tardive, 1000-1400 ap. J.C.
VASE NICOYA REPRÉSENTANT UN JAGUAR EN TERRE CUITE Costa Rica, Culture Guanacaste, Civilisation Chorotega, ca. XIIe siècle ap. J.C.
Rare Mangbetu Standing Couple, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fine Ceremonial Scarf, Palembang Region, South Sumatra
Fine Ceremonial Scarf, South Sumatra circa 1910 silk, framed78 x 36 1/4in (198.1 x 92cm)ProvenanceEuropean Private Collection