A Fine Old New Guinea Gable Mask off a Ceremonial House Middle Sepik Area Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Gable Mask off a Ceremonial House Middle Sepik Area Papua New Guinea

This beautiful old Gable Mask is made from sago spathe over a bamboo frame & then painted & decorated with woven & wood attachments.

In the early 20th Century across the Sepik River area spectacular ceremonial houses were found in almost every village. They are known as ‘Haus tambaran’ in New Guinea pidgin English. These amazing ceremonial houses embody the paramount female ancestor whose enormous face appears on the gable and whose name is given to the house.

Clans descending from a common ancestor build Ceremonial Houses where ceremonial artworks are stored, only men who are initiated are permitted inside the house Tambaran.  During ritual ceremonies, the house becomes ‘hot’, indicating the presence of spirits.

Gable masks were placed high above the entrance of the ceremonial houses. Intended to be seen from a distance, their placement at the exterior apex of the large and imposing ceremonial house would loom downwards over the nearby dance ground where everyone could feel its presence.

The photo of a middle Sepik River ceremonial house where you can see a similar Gable Mask near the top of the peaked structure is from the superb book & exhibition “Myth and Magic: Art of the Sepik River”  by Crispin Howarth at The National Gallery of Australia in 2015

Provenance: Collected by Peter Austin in 1965-1966. Part of his collection was purchased by the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada  in 1969 & published in the book ” New Guinea: Big Man Island ” by ES Rogers 1970.   He kept the best artworks for his collection until I bought them. 

The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic 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 neighbours.

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