Sepik River Ancestor Pole, Female Figure, ex-Art Institute Chicago
Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik River, ca. 1800–1950 CE. A slender pole carved from a single length of wood, crowned by a female ancestral figure serving as finial. She raises her right arm to her chin, her nose ridge pierced for ornament, her broad face fixed in a wide smile above softly bent legs that lend the composition a rhythmic torsion. Incised chevrons across torso and limbs render scarification, animating the surface with shallow relief. Traces of the original palette survive: white kaolin, black, and red ochre worked into the grain. Such figural poles were raised within men's ceremonial houses and clan enclosures, where carved ancestors mediated between the living lineage and its founding spirits, their presence invoked at initiation and in the negotiation of clan prestige. Size: 29.125" H (74.0 cm H).
Along the Middle Sepik, ancestral figures were not portraits but vessels: named spirits of a clan's founding line, addressed by name, fed, and consulted. Their carved presence concentrated in the haus tambaran, the men's ceremonial house, where posts, hooks, and finials populated the interior with a genealogy rendered in wood. The pigments carried meaning of their own. White kaolin belongs to the register of spirits and of mourning; red ochre to vitality and blood; black to the ancestral dead. Their application was periodically renewed, so a surviving polychrome surface records ritual attention as much as original manufacture.
The raised hand at the chin is a recurrent Sepik gesture, variously read as mourning, speech, or contemplation, and the perforated septum reflects the shell and boar-tusk ornaments worn by men of standing in the region.
Provenance: Previously owned by The Art Institute of Chicago. Inv. no. 1964.1108; gift from Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Baker (1924-2001).
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700.
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #
73384
Condition
Left forearm lost, weathering and abrasion to the surface, all consistent with age and traditional use.
Buyer's Premium
30%
Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik River, ca. 1800–1950 CE. A slender pole carved from a single length of wood, crowned by a female ancestral figure serving as finial. She raises her right arm to her chin, her nose ridge pierced for ornament, her broad face fixed in a wide smile above softly bent legs that lend the composition a rhythmic torsion. Incised chevrons across torso and limbs render scarification, animating the surface with shallow relief. Traces of the original palette survive: white kaolin, black, and red ochre worked into the grain. Such figural poles were raised within men's ceremonial houses and clan enclosures, where carved ancestors mediated between the living lineage and its founding spirits, their presence invoked at initiation and in the negotiation of clan prestige. Size: 29.125" H (74.0 cm H).
Along the Middle Sepik, ancestral figures were not portraits but vessels: named spirits of a clan's founding line, addressed by name, fed, and consulted. Their carved presence concentrated in the haus tambaran, the men's ceremonial house, where posts, hooks, and finials populated the interior with a genealogy rendered in wood. The pigments carried meaning of their own. White kaolin belongs to the register of spirits and of mourning; red ochre to vitality and blood; black to the ancestral dead. Their application was periodically renewed, so a surviving polychrome surface records ritual attention as much as original manufacture.
The raised hand at the chin is a recurrent Sepik gesture, variously read as mourning, speech, or contemplation, and the perforated septum reflects the shell and boar-tusk ornaments worn by men of standing in the region.
Provenance: Previously owned by The Art Institute of Chicago. Inv. no. 1964.1108; gift from Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Baker (1924-2001).
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700.
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #
73384
Condition
Left forearm lost, weathering and abrasion to the surface, all consistent with age and traditional use.
Buyer's Premium
30%
