PURARI DELTA, PAPUAN GULF, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
carved hardwood, white and black natural earth pigments
bears the numbers 10438, CC60255 and EBI-X on the handle
LENGTH: 86CM
Provenance:
Allen Christensen Collection, The Christensen Fund
Previously on loan to The Art Gallery of Western Australian
Private collection
Cf. A.B. Lewis, Carved & Painted Designs From New Guinea, Field Musem of Natural History, Chicago, 1931, Plate 5; for nine similar examples from the Purari Delta region.
These rare forms of dance wands were probably used in the important 'Semese' Ceremony that occoured only once every three years in the pre- missionary times in the 19th century.
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