A Fine Old Solomon Islands Carved Shark Man Figure Star Harbour Area Makira Island Collected c.1960s

A Fine Old Solomon Islands Carved Shark Man Figure Star Harbour Area Makira Island in the SE Solomon Islands Collected c.1960s 

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This finely carved figure of the Shark Man Deity is named Karemanua. Carved from a single piece of hardwood, the figure looks animated, like he swimming fast through the water. The shell inlay is typical to most of the ceremonial objects in this area of Star Harbour & the neighboring small Islands of Santa Anna Owa Raha & Santa Catalina Owa riki 

I spent several months visiting the villages in this area and in 1985 these were very traditional, especially Santa Catalina Owa riki which still had many traditional artists making fine ceremonial artworks.  I personally love Solomon Islands Art and have been collecting artworks from the Solomon Islands for 40 years.  I have quite several superb antique Solomon Islands Artworks that you can see in my collection.

In the eastern Solomon Islands, the shark occupies a privileged position. Held in high esteem and revered as both guardian and predator, sharks are closely associated with the spirit world and, more particularly, with the transition of man from the world of the living to the world of the departed which is inhabited by ancestors. This allusion to the shark is partly based on an important myth which recounts the story of Karemanua, a man who metamorphosed into a shark. Karemanua is said to have bitten the body of his brother, Kakafu, for having witnessed his transformation into a powerful god and his subsequent passage from the living world to the realm of spirits and ancestors which was tapu (sacred or taboo, forbidden).

Provenance: Collected in the 1960s by a botanist. The Todd Barlin Collection of Solomon Islands and Oceanic Art. See my biography here: https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/art-for-sale/oceanic-art-society-interview-by-margaret-cassidy/ 

See my new Exhibition Galleries Here: 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 neighbours.

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