< Back

A Superb Old New Guinea Coconut Spoon Papuan Gulf Area South Coast Papua New Guinea


Enquire About This Artworks >
Collection No. TB-2907
Size Height 14cm
New Guinea Art from Oceanic Arts Australia
Australia Aboriginal Bark Painting Todd Barlin
Asian Buddhist Art Todd Barlin Collection
The Art of Compassion The Todd Barlin Collection
Oceanic Arts Australia - Tribal New Guinea Art
Oceanic Arts Australia - Abelam Art Tribal Art
Oceanic Arts Australia - Asian Art Natural Wood
Oceanic Arts Australia Aboriginal Bark Painting

A Superb Old New Guinea Coconut Spoon Papuan Gulf Area, South Coast Papua New Guinea. Dating from the late 19th to early 20th Century.

This superb old Coconut Spoon is from the Elema People of Orokolo Bay the Papuan Gulf. In the form of an Imunu Spirit Figure, similar to the images on the better-known Gope Spirit Boards from the same area.

In the past, the primary focus of religious and artistic life in this region was based on powerful spirits called Imunu.  Each clan had specific imunu Spirits that were associated with a specific location in the landscape, rivers, or sea, and was linked to the specific clan.

This beautiful sculpture has always reminded me of the modernist painting by Edvard Munch ” The Scream “.  I am sure the Papuan Gulf artist had a Imunu Spirit Figure in mind but the visual impact of this simple sculpture is captivating no matter the culture or the viewer or their interpretation.

Provenance:

The Dr. Leonard Warnock Collection Sydney (1915-1999) was acquired in the 1950s

Chris & Anna Thorpe Collection Sydney

The world-famous Elizabeth Pryce Collection Sydney Australia formerly in  Sotheby’s Paris October 10, 2018, lot 130.

The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art