Art For Sale Archive - Page 15 of 48 - Oceanic Arts Australia

A Beautiful Vintage Tiwi Painting from Melville Island Northern Territory of Australia

A Beautiful Vintage Tiwi Painting from Melville Island Northern Territory of Australia

This beautiful Tiwi Painting is from Melville or Bathhurst Islands which are located approximately 80 kilometers to the north of Darwin in the Northern Territory, at the juncture of the Arafura and Timor seas, the Tiwi Islands comprise Bathurst and Melville Islands. The islands are home to the Tiwi people – the fiercely independent, culturally unique, and traditional owners of the land. ‘Tiwi’ loosely translates as ‘one people, and island culture is characterized by a shared belief in the need to keep Tiwi customs alive. The language and traditions of the Tiwi are distinct, setting them apart from Aboriginal cultures on mainland Australia. Within this context, Tiwi art has developed over time, across various genres, incorporating and expanding upon traditional motifs drawn from Tiwi people’s understanding of cultural cosmologies.

The Painting is depicting Tiwi Clan Designs that are used on body painting and ceremonial objects for Pukamani Ceremonies.

The painting is in good condition and the ochre colours are still bright & beautiful. I bought this painting when visiting Melville Island in the 1990s. I tried to buy some paintings from different artists at the arts center.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Australian Aboriginal Art

A Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Bark Painting From Central Arnhem Land Northern Territory

A Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Bark Painting From Central Arnhem Land Northern Territory

This beautiful older Bark Painting is from the Central Arnhem Land area of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Painting is Depicting Wititj the Olive Python coiled around her eggs, Circa late 1960s-1970, there are also two Wallaby and eucalyptus leaves and another snake in the painting.

Wititj who appears in the sacred Wagilag Sister’s Story. A simple version of the story goes like this. The Wagilag are two sisters who traveled from south Arnhem Land (the Roper River area), eventually reaching a sacred waterhole in which, unknown to them the python Wititj lived.

The foods the Wagilag sisters caught and collected, when placed on a fire, jumped up and disappeared into the waterhole. When one of the sisters gave birth to a baby, Wititj smelt the afterbirth blood. Disturbed by this and by all the creatures jumping into his waterhole, the monstrous python emerged and swallowed the two sisters and the child.

The painting is in good condition and the ochre colours are still bright & beautiful.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Australian Aboriginal

Two Old New Guinea Carved Birds from New Ireland and Solomon’s 19th Century

Two Old New Guinea Carved Birds from New Ireland and Solomon’s 19th Century

These two very elegant old carved wood birds, the larger one is a fragment off of a New Ireland Malangan Figure dating from the 19th Century it is 28cm long and previously from the Berry Collection in Melbourne. The other smaller Bird is from the Solomon Islands and possibly off of a canoe ornament as it has an old weathered patina, 14cm tall.

Birds in New Guinea are one of the most important totemic animals that are represented in many types of ceremonial artworks.

Birds in New Guinea art can be important clan totems and also anthropomorphic spirit beings that are half-man; primordial bird-men and bird-women, who originally created the sacred musical instruments, consisting of bamboo flutes and slit gongs that were kept within the ceremonial houses and played a central role in the ritual life of their communities.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Arts

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

Three Old New Guinea Massim Ancestor Figures Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea

Three Old New Guinea Massim Ancestor Figures Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea

These three interesting small size Massim Figures look great together, they each have a unique personality, the one on the far left is my favorite as the carver used his imagination to do something different than the average squatting figure, it came from the collection of ex-Richard Baird he supposedly acquired in from the Australian artist Leonard French who had a fine collection of New Guinea Art. The other two are both fine sculptures but together they are a “sculptural group” and look amazing

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.

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

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 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.

These figures date from the early 20th Century

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

I first went to Papua New Guinea in 1985 for an adventure & what I found was that I really enjoyed being with the people of New Guinea, over the next 38 years I spent extensive time spent collecting and documenting traditional art & ceremonies in remote areas of Papua New Guinea & West Papua, The Solomon Islands & Vanuatu & the other Pacific Islands countries. During these travels, I made major collections of New Guinea & Oceanic Art for major Museums and Public Art Galleries

I was honoured by being in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine for the collections I made for The Museum of African & Oceanic Art Paris in1996 (now the Musee Quai Branly) for the exhibition “Asmat et Mimika d’ Irian Jaya April 1996 At THE MUSEE NATIONAL des ARTS D’AFRIQUE et d’ OCEANIE, Paris

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY and there is the link to the article in the prestigious Louvre Magazine 1996

I have artwork for Museums & 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 specialises in New Guinea & Oceanic Art. Sydney is just a couple hours’ flight to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours.

A Fine New Guinea Ancestor Pole Kamoro Mimika People Eastern Mimika Area, South Coast West Papua Irian Jaya

A Fine New Guinea Ancestor Pole Kamoro Mimika People Eastern Mimika Area, South Coast West Papua Irian Jaya

This finely carved and ochre-painted Ancestor Pole is called Mbitoro in the Kamoro Language, The Kamoro live on the South Coast of West Papua (Irian Jaya) Indonesia. These people are related to the more well-known Asmat people who live not far down the coast, their language is closely related, the Kamoro went further away to escape the endless headhunting of the Asmat in pre-European contact times. The Kamoro people’s traditional art also shows a more quiet aesthetic than the Asmat people’s. I traveled to this area to visit Kamoro Villages from 1985 to 1989 and I made 12 trips there and spent months living in villages, the people are very kind and generous hosts and always took great care of me. I collected many Kamoro ceremonial artworks during this period of time. I waited for an important Mbitiro ceremony over 12 months to be finished so that I could acquire the two monumental Mbitio Ancestor poles that were 6 meters tall. These are now on permanent display at the superb Musee du Quai Branly in Paris France, they are the first artworks you see when you enter the Oceanic Art Pavillion along with many other Asmat Ceremonial Artworks, Dance Costumes, and Shields collected by me.

This fine example was made for me by the senior ceremonial artist who was in their 60s at the time. It is a beautiful sensitive carving of an ancestor, the size is also right for a normal home being only 213cm tall.

Provenance: Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

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 New Guinea Abelam Spirit Figure Abelam People East Sepik Province Papuan New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Abelam Spirit Figure Abelam People East Sepik Province Papuan New Guinea

This beautiful sculpture is an Abelam Ngwallndu Spirit Figure, The Abelam people live in the Prince Alexander Mountains area of the East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea. The Abelam people are well known for the monumental Ceremonial Houses or Haus Tambaran where all important ceremonies take place inside. The male figure is surmounted by finely carved totemic birds at the top and bottom of the figure.

The Abelam people north of the Sepik River practice perhaps the longest and most spectacular initiation cycle of any New Guinea people. 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.

Although impressive works of sculpture, to the Abelam, their power lies in the bright poly-chrome ochre paint applied to their surfaces. For the Abelam, paint is a magical substance that endows the figures with supernatural power and beauty.

Provenance: Ex Gabrielle Pizzi Collection (1940 – 2004). The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art

Pizzi was an Australian art dealer who was one of the early galleries that promoted Aboriginal art from the Western Desert in the early 1980s. She had a personal collection of Oceanic Art that I acquired from her family after her death.

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY and there is the link to the article in the prestigious Louvre Magazine 1996

A Rare Old New Guinea Highlands Ancestor Figure Eastern Highlands Province Papua New Guinea

A Rare Old New Guinea Highlands Ancestor Figure Eastern Highlands Province Papua New Guinea

This finely carved & decorated female Ancestor Figure is from the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, figurative art in the Papua New Guinea Highlands is rare, they were not prolific carvers of ceremonial art as with the Sepik River cultures or the people in the Papuan Gulf area, they were great farmers & warriors and their artistic expression was mainly in the form of elaborate body decoration for ceremonies and daily life.

Shells, feathers & pig tusks were all a form of traditional wealth and could be worn by both men & women, the highlands cultures have style, and they know how to decorate themselves in the most beautiful ways. This figure shows these traditions. These types of figures are rare, some were collected by Stan Moriarty (see photo of three similar figures collected by Moriarty) in the 1960s and are now in the collection of The Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, others were collected a bit later by the intrepid field collector and friend Peter Hallinan ( see field photo with Hallinan and Wanamera circa 1969)

Provenance: Field Collected by Peter Hallinan (1938-2015) Hallinan was one of the early field collectors in The Eastern Highlands Province.

The Todd BArlin Collection of Oceanic Art

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY and there is the link to the article in the prestigious Louvre Magazine 1996

A Rare Old Vanuatu Carved Wood Men’s Back Ornament Espiritu Santo Island in Northern Vanuatu

A Rare Old Vanuatu Carved Wood Men’s Back Ornament Espiritu Santo Island in Northern Vanuatu Collected in the late 19th Century

This rare and beautiful Men’s Back Ornament is from Espiritu Santo Island in Samna Province in Northern Vanuatu ( formerly known as The New Hebrides Islands)

It would have been worn only by a man of a certain grade in the men’s secret societies for which Vanuatu is well known. Artworks and Ornaments were made specifically for levels or grades in the men’s secret societies. I have looked very hard for a historical photo of a man wearing one of these ornaments but I haven’t found it yet, I am sure that one exists. If you see any photos of one being worn, could you please let me know?

The beautiful refined ovoid form is flat on the side it would have rested on the man’s back. There are pecked designs around the edge of the wood ornament which I think has a meaning or is for counting not just a design. The wood ornament has a fine tree bark string belt decorated with old trade beads that were used to attach it to your waist.

Provenance: Captain William Campbell Thomson ( 1851 – 1934 ). The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art

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 Fijian Chief’s Whales Tooth Necklace Polynesia 19th Century

A Superb Old Fijian Chief’s Whales Tooth Necklace called wasekaseka Polynesia 19th Century or Earlier

This superb 19th Century Fijian Whales Tooth Necklace was once worn by persons of high social status, chiefly families. The term tabua refers to a presentation whale’s tooth, the greatest of all Fijian valuables, originally taken from the lower jaw of sperm whales found stranded on Fijian beaches (whales were never hunted or killed)

They are considered by Fijians as a kavakaturanga or ‘sacred chiefly objects’. Whales Teeth in Fiji are closely associated with divine power and with chiefs as embodiments of divine ancestors.

Tabua and whale’s teeth ornaments can be found in a number of forms, each of which is an important type of traditional wealth. There is the tabua itself, a single whale’s tooth smoothed and polished into an object of great power and significance, which is gifted or exchanged at special ceremonies.

A group of Tabua which are bound together in necklaces known as wasekaseka which were worn only by chiefs and other individuals of high status. This example is of the impressive wasekaseka necklaces fashioned from tabua which have been cut and polished into tusk-like ornaments with beautiful old warm yellow patina from long use.

The gifting of tabua was traditionally a great ceremonial event in Fiji. They were given as offerings for war or peace, as tokens to symbolize marriage, or as payment of bride price. In some cases, tabua were even presented in exchange for the taking of a life. The gifting and exchange of tabua was a serious business and the recipient was bound by tradition to honour the accompanying request. Their power and significance meant that they were traditionally the possessions of chiefs and other renowned individuals

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic & Polynesian Art

References

Andrew Arno, ‘Cobo and tabua in Fiji’ (American Ethnologist, vol. 32 no. 1, February 2005)

Fergus Clunie, Yalo i Viti (1986)

Rod Ewins, Fijian Artefacts (1982)

Frederick McCarthy, ‘The Whale’s Tooth Tambua of Fiji’ (Australian Museum Magazine, vol. 11 no. 3, 15 Sept 1953)

Asesela Ravuvu, The Fijian Ethos (1987)

Kingsley Roth, ‘A Composite ‘Tambua’ from Fiji’ (Man, vol. 37, August 1937)

Marshall Sahlins, Moana (1962)

Two Superb Old New Guinea Chiefs Clubs Massim Culture Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea

Two Superb New Guinea Chiefs Clubs Massim Culture Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea from the 19th Century

These two superbly early Massim Chief’s Clubs are from the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Gunia. Dating from the 19th Century, these beautiful old clubs were an emblem of high status and prestige for the men who once owned them. Both Clubs were carved by a master carver with refined elements including ancestors’ faces on the finials, stylized birds, a snake & scrolling designs that the Massim are renowned for.

The regional trading systems of the islands around the eastern end of New Guinea are called Kula and are particularly elaborate trading systems where men had lifetime trading partners and social obligations and shell ornaments and cultural objects that constantly moved between communities.

The Massim artists are well known for their beautiful artworks such as Canoe Ornaments and their amazing Lime Spatulas used when chewing betel nut. The Massim is one of my favorite art styles as their art is non-aggressive and also reminds me of the art of Lake Sentani an area in West Papua where I spent a lot of time.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

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

Archives: Art For Sale

A Beautiful Vintage Tiwi Painting from Melville Island Northern Territory of Australia

A Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Bark Painting From Central Arnhem Land Northern Territory

Two Old New Guinea Carved Birds from New Ireland and Solomon’s 19th Century

Three Old New Guinea Massim Ancestor Figures Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine New Guinea Ancestor Pole Kamoro Mimika People Eastern Mimika Area, South Coast West Papua Irian Jaya

A Superb Old New Guinea Abelam Spirit Figure Abelam People East Sepik Province Papuan New Guinea

A Rare Old New Guinea Highlands Ancestor Figure Eastern Highlands Province Papua New Guinea

A Rare Old Vanuatu Carved Wood Men’s Back Ornament Espiritu Santo Island in Northern Vanuatu

A Superb Fijian Chief’s Whales Tooth Necklace Polynesia 19th Century

Two Superb Old New Guinea Chiefs Clubs Massim Culture Milne Bay Province Papua New Guinea

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