A Superb Old Paiwan Mortar Indigenous People of Formosa Island Tawian

A Superb Old Paiwan Mortar Indigenous People of Formosa Island Tawian

This superbly carved Paiwan Mortar was used for making botanical medicines in a chief’s household.  Dating from the late 19th to the very early 20th Century.

Carved from a single piece of hardwood in high relief with the main iconography being a powerful figure of a chief or deified ancestor holding two Hundred-Pacer Snakes. There is another set of three human figures holding hands as when dancing in traditional ceremonies.

The carving is very deep giving this sculpture a three-dimensional look more like an ancestor figure than an object in the round.  There are traces of ochre and an encrusted patina from whatever was being crushed along the rim & inside of the mortar.

The Hundred-Pacer Snakes (Agkistrodon acutus) which is one of the most important characters in Paiwan mythology, and are generally considered to be the pro-creator of the Chiefs and nobles.

The Paiwan is one of the most well-known of the several indigenous peoples living in the mountainous interior of Taiwan. Paiwan society is hierarchical, divided into high nobles, minor nobility, and commoners. In former times, only the high nobility was entitled to create or commission certain forms of human images, which portrayed important ancestors (tsmas). The ancestors, whose supernatural influence was controlled by the nobility, had the power to either help or harm the community, depending on whether their spirits received proper respect through ritual observances and offerings. The houses of Paiwan nobles were both the physical and artistic centers of ancestral power and imagery. The remains of noble ancestors were buried within the houses of their descendants, and their images adorned the doorways, house posts, and other architectural elements and ritual objects like this mortar.

I have been collecting Oceanic Art for 40 years and have always been fascinated with Paiwan & other Taiwan Indigenous tribe’s art as they are the known ancestors of the ancient Polynesians. The Taiwan Indigenous tribe’s art styles have connections & influences not only in Polynesian Art but throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia on the island of New Guinea.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Asian Art

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art.  Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbors.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us