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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 

 

A fine Old Japanese Carving of the Buddhist Guardian Deity Zochoten

A fine Old Japanese Carving of the Buddhist Guardian Deity Zochoten

This finely carved figure of the Japanese Guardian Figure of Zochten, he is Guardian Figure worshipped as a Protector Deity. Known as Virudhaka in Tibetan Buddhism described in the superb resource website ” The Himalayan Art Resources ” as ” the leader of Kumbhanda and Guardian of the Southern Direction. He is worshipped as a protector deity and he lives on the southern side of Mount Meru in the Heaven of the Four Great Kings.  He has sworn an oath to the Shakyamuni Buddha. The stories & iconography of the Four Guardian Kings arose in the early Buddhist Sutras. ”

Here the figure of the Japanese Guardian Figure of Zochten is seen trampling on a Amanojaku or Heavenly Evil Spirit like an Oni that appears in Japanese folklore. This creature has entered Buddhist thoughts and is considered an opponent of Buddhist teachings and he is being trampled on and subdued by the Guardian Zochten and the righteousness of the Buddhas teachings thus showing good prevailing over evil.

This artwork was made by a very skilled and confident artist likely in the late 19th Century, though it could be earlier. There are much earlier Zochten Figures in museum Japan and elsewhere where they have beautiful classical Chinese & Japanese attributes where this example is more a folk art carving possibly made for a local shrine in the countryside.

I think highly of this figure as an artwork, carved from heavy wood in three pieces; The Guardian Figure and the Oni he is trampling on, the third piece is the spear itself. Both figures are painted in red and black and in good light, you can see the Guardian leggings are striped.  The Oni is mostly red except for his black hair.

Provenance:  The Todd Barlin Collection of Buddhist and Asian 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 Rare & Beautiful Chief’s House Lintel Timor Island Indonesia 19th Century

A Rare & Beautiful Chief’s House Lintel Timor Island Indonesia 19th Century

This finely carved Chief’s House Lintel is from the eastern half of the island of Timor now a newly independent country. The Lintel is dating from the late 19th century, the carving was a horizontal ornament under the front gable of one of the amazing architectural raised houses with peaked roofs.  The main design is four large lizard figures in high relief with scroll-like textile-type designs on either end.   The Lizard in Timor Art is an ancient motif that appears in cave paintings and early woven textiles & carved doors. There is a spectacularly carved door with these types lizard carvings in the Yale University Museum collection online and a very similar Lintel to this in the Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris France

The Lizard is an important totemic clan animal that links the people with their ancestors

In the book  “Traditional Art in Timorese Princedoms,” in Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art, by  Nico de Jonge in collaboration with Steven Alpert.  They state

”  Houses that were spiritually connected with the founding ancestors of a clan or lineage—the so-called houses of origin— were generally beautifully decorated. Within a clan, these named dwellings were ordered in a hierarchical way and were of great significance to its members. They represented the visible symbol of a group and, more important, functioned as the connection between the living and their ancestors; they and their annexes were ritual centres.

Throughout Timor, the architecture and decoration of a house of origin had its own specific character. The decoration would often be aimed at propagating the status of an individual group. An example of this can be found in gable finials in the shape of buffalo horns; owning buffalo was an essential indicator of status on Timor. Furthermore, the main posts, joists, and walls of a house were frequently adorned with depictions of totemic animals and various geometric forms. The splendidly ornamented door panels found in the Tetun residences of North Belu have become highly renowned.

In pre-colonial times, a house of origin was often part of a “village of origin,” a cluster of family residences. These hamlets were usually located on a hilltop that was easy to defend; conflicts between princedoms—especially over (alleged) cattle theft and claims on sandalwood trees and trees with beehives—were once common¬place. In the vicinity of an important house of origin (such as the eldest house of a clan), there would often be a connected small sacrificial temple, where the graves of esteemed ancestors, including stone platforms with altars and pole sculptures of the clan founders of the Aitos were located. These Aitos Ancestor Figures, in fact, constituted the only category of ancestor statues on Timor. ”

If anyone can help further with more information about this type of  East Timor Architectural carved Lintel I would be more grateful to hear from you with any information or photos relating to carved Lintels in traditional Timor Architectural

Provenance:  Daeng Iskandar Collection Bali &  The Todd Barlin Private Collection of Indonesian & SE Asian & New Guinea 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Rare New Guinea Ceremonial Dance Mask Nggala People Swagap Village Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Rare New Guinea Ceremonial Dance Mask Nggala People Swagap Village Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

The beautiful and rare ceremonial Dance Mask is from the Nggala People of Swagap Village on the Upper Sepik River area in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. The mask is large at 137cm high, carved from a single piece of wood except for the attached bird effigy at the top.  This type of mask is rare & not many were ever collected.  Swagap village used to be called Nggala and that is how it is referred to by the late Douglas Newtown the former curator of Oceanic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York & formerly called The Museum of Primitive Art later incorporated into the Rockefeller Wing at The Metropolitan Museum did his fieldwork amongst the Nggala people in 1964, 1965, 1967.

According to Douglas Newton ” At that time he estimated that there were only 140 people living at Nggala (Swagap). Newton later published a book on his research “Crocodile & Cassowary 1971” by The Museum of Primitive Art.  The section about the Nggala in his book shows a similar mask at this example on page 49, the mask is made from bark except for the wood bird attached to the top.

These distinctive masks were made both in wood & bark and were used in the Mbangk Ceremony. The masks represented powerful local water spirits of their area, the masks were made in pairs and fastened back to back on the dancer who was in the middle of these masks. The dancer was painted black from head to foot and had a long grass skirt from his shoulders to the ground and he looked out through the holes in the mask’s eyes.

Douglas Newton writes “ The Mask was made in one section of the village but taken to another section to perform.; the mask represented a Water Spirit and consisted of two elongated masks fastened back-to-back and surmounted by the Hornbill carving. The masked dancer wore armbands & leg bands and he was painted black from head to foot and was covered with a long fibre skirt from shoulders to the ground. The mask fitted over his head and he could look out through the eyes of the mask. The masker had to be an elder man or an unmarried man.

The singing for the ceremony took place in the Ceremonial House and was accompanied by the beating of bamboo tubes on the ground. The ceremony began in the evening and continued through the night; in the morning the Mask emerged from the Ceremonial House and paraded through the village until mid-day. At the conclusion of the ceremony the masks were left in the village where the ceremony took place & the Hornbill Head was taken back to another village.”

Newton goes on in the section about the Nggala mythology

“a man of the Kokopfaniyan clan recognized the gong beaters of Dimbogela one of the Water Spirit masks of Wobi, the most important ritual was ganeb, the ritual beating of the slit gong drums restricted to important men who were homicides. They were initiated by being rubbed by nettle for this ceremony the sacred masks of the Water Spirits were brought out of the shelters where they were kept and displayed in the upper stories of the Ceremonial House. The slit gong drums represented the voices of the Water Spirits.

The Nggala had few contacts with Europeans before 1953 when the Australian Colonial officers started to visit regularly because of earlier headhunting raids that were to be extinguished by the Colonial administration.

Provenance: This fine mask was collected circa 1969-70.  I have had it in my personal collection for 35 years and have enjoyed it immensely over the years.

It was exhibited & published in the exhibition Oceanic Arts Pacifica at The Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in Sydney in 2014. The exhibition was mainly for the Pacific Islander community that lives in Western Sydney & during the opening weekend, several thousand Pacific Island people came to dance & sing & enjoy the art exhibitions.  Published in the exhibition catalogue on page 55

You can see some photos of the mask in the exhibition space.

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 Dayak Shield from Borneo Island Indonesia

A Superb Old Dayak Shield Borneo Island Indonesia 19th Century 

This finely carved & painted War Shield is from the Dayak People of Borneo Island Kalimantan Indonesia.

The Todd Barlin Collection of Dayak & Indonesia Tribal 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 

 

A Fine Old Paiwan Tribe Ancestor Figure South Taiwan Formosa Island

A Fine Old Paiwan Tribe Ancestor Figure from Southern Taiwan from the Early 20th Century.  We specialize in the rare & beautiful art of the indigenous people of Taiwan.

This finely carved Ancestor Figure is from the Paiwan People or other closely related indigenous Formosan tribes from South Taiwan / Formosa Island.  Dating from the early 20th Century and showing deep old patina and wear from handling.   Carved from a single piece of hardwood and stands on a small square base that has a chip on one corner clearly seen in the photos.

The ancestor figure is a Paiwan Man who has been successful in hunting wild boar carried by tying the boar’s feet together and the animal becomes a backpack. The man is wearing a traditional Paiwan woven textile kilt and one hand likely once held a weapon like a spear or a sword.  The artist was highly skilled, and the proportions of the figure & the boar he is carrying are accurate but it is the sensitive face that shows the artist was able to capture the real emotion of their highly venerated ancestor.

I have included a couple of photos of similar hunting ancestor figures in public museum collections for reference.

Wild boar is an important part of the Paiwan traditional diet but it is also a recurring motif used on Paiwan art objects such as Chief’s House Lintels.

The Paiwan are one of 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 centres 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.

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

Provenance: Lin Tien Wang Collection who was working with Paiwan Villages in the early 1930s

The Todd Barlin Collection of  New Guinea Art & Oceanic and Asian 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 Fine Old Paiwan Tribe Carved Tray South Taiwan Late 19th Century

A Fine Old Paiwan Tribe Carved Tray South Taiwan Late 19th Century. We specialize in the rare & beautiful art of the indigenous people of Taiwan.

This finely carved chief’s offering tray is from the Paiwan People of South Taiwan / Formosa Island.  Dating from the late 19th to very early 20th Century and showing deep old patina and wear.   The tray was likely used to offer Betel Nut to guests.  Carved from a single piece of wood in a rectangular form which is decorated on the inside bottom with two Hundred-Pacer Snakes (Agkistrodon acutus) which is an important clan motif in which one of the major characters in Paiwan mythology, and is generally considered to be the pro-creator of the Paiwan Nobility. On the bottom of the tray, all four sides are deeply incised Paiwan clan designs, on either end of the tray are again two entwined Hundred-Pacer Snakes, and on the longer sides are two Deer nose to nose and below them is a single head which is relating to the Paiwan being once fierce headhunters.

The Paiwan are one of 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 centres 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.

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

Provenance:  This fine tray came from the collection of the family of Lin Tien Wang who was working with Paiwan Villages in the early 1930s.

The Todd Barlin Collection of  New Guinea Art & Oceanic and Asian 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 Fine Dayak Medicine Container & stopper Borneo Indonesia

A Fine Dayak Medicine Container & Stopper Borneo Indonesia.  We specialize in the rare & beautiful antique arts of the Dayak Peoples of Borneo 

This beautiful small Medicine Gourd with carved Stopper in the form of an Aso mythical animal from the Dayak people on the island of Borneo in Indonesia.  Dating from the early to mid-20th Century.  I had recently seen a similar Medicine Gourd in a Museum collection that had good information about this type of Medicine Container. I will try to find it again & update this information.  The Dayak carve superb small-scale artworks like this container & Amulets & Charm Figures ( I have a collection of these that I will one day sell as a collection.

The Dallas Fine Art Museum with a superb Indonesian Art Collection describes the Aso mythical animal :

” A prominent and widespread theme of the art of Borneo is a mythical animal that combines attributes of the dog and dragon in a single creature called aso. This animal signifies protection and status, and the use of the image is traditionally restricted to the upper class. The animals’ notched tails indicate that the objects functioned as supports for a horizontal member that together comprised either a low table or bench. The dogs, two of an original group of four sculptures, would have faced outward at the corners, their tails supporting the horizontal member with pegs or dowels. In Kayan culture, low tables were the prerogative of the elite. The tables are said to commemorate the prowess of the Kayan warrior and they functioned to receive ritual offerings. ”

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection Of Dayak & Indonesian 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 Pair of Ancestor Figures from Aitos Area East Timor

A Superb Old Pair of Ancestor Figures from Aitos Area East Timor

The fine old pair of male and Female Ancestor Figures are from the Aitos Area of East Timor in SE Asia.  Dating from the early 20th century this distinct style of the Aitos figures area is part of a larger corpus of Ancestor Worship and Art stretching all the way through SE Asia and the Indonesian archipelago and into the island of New Guinea.

Ancestor posts like these played a significant role in rituals that honoured ancestral spirits who presided over the land and instructed the Tetum people on all areas of daily life; the raising of cattle, agriculture, hunting & fishing and architecture. The ancestors are made visible by these carved figures who pass on the traditions to the living.  They also watch over their descendants to ensure that their customs are carefully followed and punishing those who fail to conform to the ancient traditions. Offerings to ancestral spirits were placed on stone slabs near the ancestral figures or on the actual figures sometimes adorning them with textiles or traditional ornaments.

Provenance:  The Todd Barlin Collection of Indonesian & 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 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 

 

A Superb Old New Guinea Keram River Ancestor Figure East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Keram River Ancestor Figure East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

This superb old Ancestor Figure is from the Keram River area a tributary of the Sepik River in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. This figure is dating from the late 19th to the early 20th Century. It’s unique iconography of a father carrying his son on his back.  I looked at this sculpture for a long time trying to see if I was seeing it correctly, possibly a double ancestor figure but I keep coming back to the idea that it is a father carrying his son on his back.

The Keram River area has a unique style of art out of the many other Sepik river cultures close by.

Carved from a single piece of hardwood and it never had a flat base to stand up independently as many early Sepik Figures are. The front view is a standing male ancestor with elongated almost vertical eyes, the nose is pierced and has a fiber string through the septum, and the elongated head suggests he might be wearing a hair ornament.  The reverse side of this figure looks like the normal back view of the ancestor figure except for the male child that appears to be riding piggyback style but facing outwards as when people carry their kids in a backpack-type carrier.

The German Anthropologist Richard Thurnwald (1869–1954) joined the expedition in January of 1913 and was assigned the Töpferfluss, known today as the Keram River.  He reported on the many types of artworks made in this area, especially the superb feather mosaics that were arranged into large-scale assemblages inside the men’s ceremonial houses for the initiation ceremonies of young men.  See the fine article and photos in the Tribal Art Magazine by By Valentin Boissonnas in Winter 2018.

There are many types of sculptures that are termed ” Maternity Figures”  being a mother & child, this is a common artistic theme in all cultures including the Sepik River cultures but as far as I have seen this is a unique sculpture of a father and son.  The many times I visited villages all over New Guinea & West Papua I often saw fathers carrying their children & holding them in a tender loving manner.

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.

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