Art For Sale Archive - Page 10 of 48 - Oceanic Arts Australia

A Superb Old Bowl Wuvulu or Matty Island Manus Province Papua New Guinea Micronesian Outlier

A Superb Old Bowl Wuvulu or Matty Island Manus Province Papua New Guinea Micronesian

This unique hourglass-shaped bowl called apia nie is from Wuvulu Island also known as Matty Island is part of the Western Islands of The Bismarck Archipelago in Manus Province of Papua New Guinea. Wuvulu is considered to be a Micronesian outlier because some islands in Papua New Guinea are inhabited by Micronesian settlers.

The unique hourglass-shaped bowls, created on the islands of Wuvulu and Aua embody the spare, minimalist aesthetic of Micronesian art. They were made to be used specifically to collect coconut milk, extracted by squeezing balls of grated coconut meat over the bowl. The wide shallow ends of the bowls curve gently downward toward the deeper centre, in which the freshly squeezed liquid collects. Many older bowls like this fine example develop a distinctive glossy patina through years of contact with the oil in the coconut milk.

Though still made and used today the newer examples now look chunky with thick uneven walls and they have none of the fineness of the old bowls like fine examples.

In the 38 years of my collection of Oceanic Art, it is one of the finest Wuvulu Bowls that I ever had the chance to acquire. It is “pure form” and it is a joy to look at.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Art & 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.

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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

A Superb Old New Guinea Food Bowl Boiken People East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Food Bowl Boiken People East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

This fine old and well-used Bowl / Plate is called Huamp in the Boiken language, the Boiken People live in the Prince Alexander Mountains area in the East Sepik Province or Papua New Guinea.

Beautifully carved from a single piece of hardwood with outside convex and carved in high relief with the image of a stylized totemic Flying Fox (fruit bat) with an anthropomorphic Ancestral Face. These bowls were widely traded with their neighbors and often kept for several generations as a family heirloom, These bowls when hung together in a group of two or three look amazing as sculptural artworks. Flying Foxes are an important part of the mythological Ancestral Beings in the Sepik River Cultures.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art : This old bowl has been one of my favorites and has been in my home for 35 years.

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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

A Fine Old New Guinea Massim Ancestor Figure from Milne Bay Province Eastern Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old Massim Ancestor Figure from Milne Bay Province Eastern Papua New Guinea This figure dates from the early 20th Century

This fine old and large Massim Squatting Ancestor Figure is from the Milne Bay Province in Eastern Papua New Guinea. Finely carved in a naturalistic style sitting with the elbows resting on the knees & the hands held under the chin, carved from a single piece of hardwood, and the incised designs and facial features are highlighted with white lime.

Culturally the Milne Bay region is referred to as “the Massim,” a term originating from the name of Misima Island but is used to describe the artworks from the whole province made of 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited.

The squatting figure is a style of figure that runs from all the way from the indigenous people of Taiwan through SE Asia; Indonesia & the Philippines and throughout the Island of New Guinea.

The Massim are well known for other types of beautiful artworks like their intricately carved canoe ornaments and fantastically imaginative Lime Spatulas. The Massim are also known for their great maritime skills and a complex trading system called the Kula Ring. Kula is also the name for certain ornaments & wealth objects like stone axe blades and shell money. These valuables are traded purely for the purpose of enhancing one’s social status and prestige.

Carefully prescribed customs and traditions surround the ceremonies that accompany the exchanges which establish strong, ideally lifelong relationships between the exchange parties (karayta’u, “partners”). The act of giving is a display of the greatness of the giver, accompanied by shows of exaggerated modesty in which the value of what is given is actively played down. Such a partnership involves strong mutual obligations such as hospitality, protection, and assistance. Kula valuables never remain for long in the hands of the recipients; rather, they must be passed on to other partners within a certain amount of time, thus constantly circling around the ring. However, even temporary possession brings prestige and status. Important chiefs can have hundreds of partners while less significant participants may only have fewer than a dozen.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia and The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY showing the Museums & Art Gallery 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

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

A Superb Old Bowl Papuan Gulf Area South Coast Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old Bowl with ancestral designs from the Papuan Gulf Area South Coast of Papua New Guinea

This fine old bowl with a deeply incised ancestor or spirit figure is similar in design to the finest abstract Gope Spirit Boards,

The Papuan Gulf region comprises approximately five major groups of related peoples, each with its own stylistically distinct forms of masks, figures, and spirit boards.

Nearly every object was created to communicate with or control the spirit world for the benefit of the family or community. Local sculptors were able to attract the spirits to live in the boards that were kept in shrines in the longhouses, the center of men’s community life, or to inhabit the masks and enable dancers to be activated by them during performances involving the entire community. Old bowls like these are family heirlooms sometimes a couple of generations old, they were used on ceremonial occasions for the most favored of foods like wild boar or cassowary.

Provenance: George Craig Collection and The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

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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

A Superb Old Solomon Islands Staff Star Harbour Area Makira Island San Cristobal Solomon Islands

A Superb Old Solomon Islands Staff from the Star Harbour Area of Makira Island (previously known as San Cristobal Island) in the Eastern Solomon Islands

This finely carved & shell inlay Staff was carved by a master carver during the 1940s and it was likely a gift from a local man to an American or Australian soldier stationed there during WW2. The imagery consists of an ancestor figure who is being bitten by a crocodile, this is a consistent motif in Solomon Islands art and relates to a mythological story, the other images are totemic animals & sea creatures.

The Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific form a double chain, roughly 850 miles long, between New Britain and Vanuatu. The archipelago is remarkable for the richness of its decorative arts, which serve to adorn the human body and embellish ceremonial and utilitarian objects. Solomon Islanders are particularly remarkable for their sophisticated traditions of shell inlay, in which delicately carved sections of mother-of-pearl or white shell are inset into the surfaces of wood objects as shown in this very fine sculpture.

The photos of the Staff do not do the artwork justice, it is often the case where the artwork held in one’s hand gives the full experience of how beautiful the staff truly is. It has a custom stand

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Solomon Island and Oceanic Art

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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.

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A Fine Old Japanese Tengu Mask from the late 19th Century Signed by Artist Japan

A Fine Old Japanese Tengu Mask from the late 19th Century, Signed by Artist

This fine old Tengu Mask from Japan was carved by a master carver and signed in Kenji.

Carved from two pieces of hardwood ( the mask is a single piece & the nose is a separate piece). Once the carving was completed it was covered in red & black lacquerware finish with great effect. The artist could make the sculpture feel powerfully alive

The Tengu or “Heavenly Sentinel” is a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion. They are considered a type of yōkai (supernatural beings) or Shinto kami (gods). The tengu was originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest Tengu was pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is widely considered the Tengu defining characteristic. They are also thought to be parallel to the Garuda, a legendary bird or bird-like creature in Hindu, and Buddhist mythology, and influenced by Sarutahiko Ōkami, a native Shinto deity.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Private Collection of Asian and Oceanic Art

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A Fine Collection of Antique African Kwere or Zaramo Doll Figures Tanzania East Africa

A Fine Collection of (18) Antique Kwere or Zaramo Doll Figures from Tanzania in East Africa

The Zaramo mwana hiti, meaning “child of wood,” is used in initiation ceremonies of the Kwere, Zaramo, Luguru, and Gogo people of Tanzania in East Africa

According to Adenike Cosgrove:

” Zaramo mwana hiti figures carry both practical and symbolic significance. They serve as companions for young girls during the initiation ceremony, as they are separated from their families during the process as well as childless married girls and women. Sometimes such figures are used as a form of adornment. They can be used to decorate the ends of musical instruments, walking sticks, furniture, or grave posts. The physicality of the object also provides a tangible connection to clan ancestors, turning the figure into a family heirloom to be passed down from generation to generation. During the initiation process, the wooden figure is given to the female initiate by a maternal uncle. The ceremony educates the initiate on the ideal qualities of womanhood: hard work, generosity, prudence, and a nurturing disposition. In addition to this, she also receives sex education, instruction on how to please her husband, and ways to stay connected to her family. Following the conclusion of the ceremony, the initiates carry the figures around their necks and are expected to take great care of the figures to ensure and protect their fertility. ”

These figures were collected over the past 40 years, whenever I saw a good one for sale I bought it, and when I found a better example I would deaccession the lesser one and keep the best figure. When you see them together as a collection they look their finest as a group of small-scale sculptures that expand your imagination.

Provenance: Many Old Collections in the USA & Europe: The Todd Barlin Collection of African Art

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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

A Superb Old New Guinea Drum Abelam People East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea 19th C

A Superb Old New Guinea Abelam Drum from the Abelam People Prince Alexander Mountain Range, East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea 19th Century

This beautiful old stone-carved Drum is from the Abelam People who live in Prince Alexander Mountain Range in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. This hourglass-shaped drum is called Kang in the Abelam language or more commonly a Kundu in Papua New Guinea Pidgin English. Old drums like this fine example were family heirlooms often used over several generations of a family. The use of drums is very important to all traditional ceremonies where drumming and singing relate stories of ancient ancestral beings who are invoked for protection & fertility.

The larger bottom section of the drum has a central ancestors’ head in high relief and is finely incised with scrolling clan designs around both the top & bottom parts of the drum, the lug handle and whole drum have an old deep brown patina from use and storage in the men’s ceremonial house.

The shape of the drum is a sculpture in itself, I looked at it for a long time before I had a stand made which put the bottom of the drum at the top as seen in the second photo above.

Beginning in childhood, each Abelam male must pass through eight separate initiation rites over the course of twenty to thirty years, before he is a fully initiated man. Each successive ritual requires both a physical ordeal and the viewing of increasingly elaborate displays of sacred objects in specially constructed chambers within the men’s ceremonial house. This process continues until the final rites, in which the initiate is shown the largest and most sacred of all displays—the brilliantly painted figures and other images portraying the powerful clan spirits called nggwalndu and ancestor figures. Drums like this fine example are used in most traditional Abelam ceremonies.

Stone Carved and dating from the late 19th Century.

Provenance: The John Friede Collection of New Guinea Art and The Todd Barlin Collection Of Oceanic Papuan New Guinea Art

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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

A Superb Old New Guinea Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set NW Coast West Papua

A Superb Old New Guinea Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set from West Papua (Irian Jaya ) Indonesia Dating from the 19th Century

This beautiful old Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set was one of the first artworks that I collected on Lake Sentani 38 years ago. It comprises three pieces used for weaving fishing nets or other types of woven objects, there is a flat weaving shuttle that is finely carved from hardwood with pairs of totemic lizards at either end, and the flat part in the middle is carved with finely incised scrolling designs called fou which is a chiefly design used on artworks made for the chiefly families or Ondafi. The two wood needle-like objects are also deeply incised with fou designs and the ends which are open to me look like bird’s beaks which you can see clearly in one photo.

The string that was used for weaving was hand-made from tree bark that was made by women in their spare time. When I was there I didn’t see any traditional string or rope being made in Lake Sentani because they had nylon string & rope and making it from tree bark was no longer necessary. In the remote villages in the Asmat & Marind Anim & Baliem Valley, I often saw women making tree bark strings whenever they had a spare moment.

I was told that this Weaving Set belonged to the family’s grandparents as an heirloom that was no longer used in weaving.

They are on two custom stands as seen in the photos

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

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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

Three Superb Old New Guinea Marupai Charms Orokolo Bay Papuan Gulf Area Papua New Guinea

Three Superb Old New Guinea Marupai Charm from the Elema People Orokolo Bay in the Papuan Gulf Area of Papua New Guinea

Marupai is a type of magical charm that most men owned & used in the Papuan Gulf cultures. Carved from dwarf coconuts and finely incised over their entire surface with Ancestral Spirits just like the better-known Gope Spirit Boards from the same area. They are almost certainly from the 19th Century as they were all collected in 1948. Marupai are masterpieces of small-scale sculpture.

Marupai were often kept inside little woven bags that sometimes were tied together in groups, men wore them or carried them in their bags to protect themselves & their families from malevolent sorcerers or bad magic. They were also used as Hunting Charms, to control the weather & for love magic.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

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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

Archives: Art For Sale

A Superb Old Bowl Wuvulu or Matty Island Manus Province Papua New Guinea Micronesian Outlier

A Superb Old New Guinea Food Bowl Boiken People East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Massim Ancestor Figure from Milne Bay Province Eastern Papua New Guinea

INQUIRE HERE

A Superb Old Bowl Papuan Gulf Area South Coast Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old Solomon Islands Staff Star Harbour Area Makira Island San Cristobal Solomon Islands

A Fine Old Japanese Tengu Mask from the late 19th Century Signed by Artist Japan

A Fine Collection of Antique African Kwere or Zaramo Doll Figures Tanzania East Africa

A Fine Collection of (18) Antique Kwere or Zaramo Doll Figures from Tanzania in East Africa

A Superb Old New Guinea Drum Abelam People East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea 19th C

A Superb Old New Guinea Lake Sentani Net Weaving Shuttle Set NW Coast West Papua

Three Superb Old New Guinea Marupai Charms Orokolo Bay Papuan Gulf Area Papua New Guinea

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