A Ceremonial Mask
A Ceremonial MaskEstimate $8,000 – $12,000
LOWER COASTAL SEPIK RIVER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
carved wood, red, white, blue and yellow pigments
LENGTH: 77CM
Provenance:
George Craig
Michael Hamson Oceanic Art, USA
Private collection
George Craig was one of the premier crocodile hunters and artefact collectors in the Fly River and Papuan Gulf. This mask was collected in the 1960s and was part of his private collection. It was also exhibited in the small museum associated with his marine park which was called Marineland Melanesia. The mask most likely dates to the 1940s. It would have originated from the Coastal Madang Area, lower coastal Sepik or the Islands that run between the two provinces.