Art For Sale Archive - Page 2 of 51 - Oceanic Arts Australia

A Fine Old Abelam Yam Mask Prince Alexander Mountains East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old Abelam Woven Yam Mask from the Abelam People in the Prince Alexander Mountains Area of the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

This fine old woven & ochre painted Yam Mask was used in Yam Harvest ceremonies that are at the heart of the Abelam Culture. They are used solely to decorate large ceremonial Yams and are never worn by humans.

Lavishly adorned for the presentation ceremony, the finest long yams are transformed into human images, decorated like men in full ceremonial regalia. The “heads” of the enormous tubers are adorned with specially made yam masks such as this one.

One of the major focuses of ceremonial life among the Abelam people of northeast New Guinea is the competitive growth and exchange of long yams. The Abelam cultivate two distinct categories of yams—a small variety used as ordinary food and long yams, massive tubers that can be as much as twelve feet long. A man’s social status is determined largely by his success in growing long yams.

Each man has a permanent exchange partner to whom he ceremonially presents his largest yams following the annual harvest, later receiving those of his rival in return. Men who are consistently able to give their partners longer yams than they receive gain great prestige.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia and 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.

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 Aboriginal Bark Painting of Possums from Northeast Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia

This Fine Old Bark Painting of Possums, Northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Australia,

This rare and beautiful painting depicts totemic creatures like Possums that would be important to the artist’s clan & their mythology

Cross-hatching on bark paintings called Raark is one of the most distinctive and beautiful features of Arnhem Land Bark Paintings. Closely-spaced fine lines are drawn in particular colours, intersecting each other. The chosen colours may be specific to a certain clan, and the effect is difficult to describe but produces a deep impression on the viewer. Traditionally, the most sacred designs drawn on bodies during ceremonies were drawn with a quality called “bir’yun”, which is loosely translated as scintillation (as in the twinkling of stars) but carries a connotation of sunlight reflected off the sparkling water.

Indigenous Artists from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory use crushed earth ochre pigments to paint on sheets of eucalyptus bark, They paint beautiful spiritual images of deep cultural significance that show their spiritual connection with specific tracts of country

Arnhem Land Rock Art sites are some thousands of years old, where ancient rock shelters were painted and maintained over generations. Arnhem Land is world-renowned for its Rock Art.

The designs seen on Arnhem Land Bark Paintings are traditional designs that are owned by the artist or their clan, they cannot be painted by other artists. In many cases, these designs would traditionally be used to paint the body for ceremonies or rituals, and also to decorate logs used in ceremonies. Artists also would paint designs on the bark walls and roofs of their shelters where they stayed during seasonal food gathering.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Australian Aboriginal

If you have any Bark Paintings, I am always interested in buying & I pay top prices for Bark Paintings that I like.

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 Aboriginal Bark Painting from Northeast Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia

This Fine Old Bark Painting of Totemic Creatures, Arnhem Land, Northern Australia,

This rare and beautiful painting depicts totemic creatures like insects and plants that would be important to the artist’s clan

Arnhem Land Rock Art sites are some thousands of years old, where ancient rock shelters were painted and maintained over generations. Arnhem Land is world-renowned for its Rock Art.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Australian Aboriginal

If you have any Bark Paintings, I am always interested in buying & I pay top prices for Bark Paintings that I like.

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 Minja Ceremonial Figure Kwoma People Waskuk Area Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Minja Ceremonial Figure, Kwoma People Waskuk Area, Upper Sepik River, Papua New Guinea

Minja is one of three distinct Yam Harvest ceremonies held annually in the villages of the Kwoma, Nukuma and Mayo speakers of the Upper Sepik River, in a region generally referred to as the Waskuk Hills, the two other Yam Harvest Ceremonies that are associated with a distinctive form of sculpture, the Yina & Nogkwi.

The Kwoma people and their closely related neighbours the Nukuma and Warasai & Yasyin share a unique tradition revolving around the cultivation of yams. An annual series of rituals associated with the yam harvest ensures the tuber’s continuing abundance and renders it suitable for human consumption. Clans sponsor the events, which are staged in a sequence of three rituals involving different types of ceremonial sculptures.

Minja is the second of the Yam Harvest Ceremonies. The essential iconographic feature is a highly stylized representation of a spirit figure. The shaft is associated with the yam digging stick, a tool used to dig holes for the yam planting. There is an obvious phallic and fertility symbol of the shaft (male) being thrust into the earth (female). Though strong symbols of maleness permeate the sculptural form, the Minja can be designated either male or female. Minja represents spirits known as sikilawos, which have great power and are responsible for the continuing fertility of the yam gardens.

Ritual leaders organize the Minja Ceremony at yam harvest time. The next two ceremonies feature their sculpted images of Yina and Nokwi and must also be performed before the full harvest is complete. Older Ceremonial Figures are hidden in garden huts, away from the village. They have acquired power over time and through use, new carvings are required from time to time; power is not inherent, but develops in the process of carving and painting.

For the annual ceremony, both old and new Minja sculptures are freshly painted, as their power lies in the bright polychrome ochre paint applied to their surfaces, for the Kwoma people the paint is a magical substance that endows the figures with supernatural power and beauty.

The ceremony takes place inside the men’s Ceremonial house (korob) A platform is built, and while one major Minja figure is displayed as a focus, many lesser Minja, other associated figures and pottery heads may be used. The Minja are tied to poles on the ceremonial platform and further decorated with shell wealth items, a ‘beard’ made of feather down, pig’s tusks and sometimes a headdress.

The Kwoma has a traditionally oriented ritual and aesthetic life. They believe in a complex pantheon of spirits. These fall into two categories: “bush” or “water” spirits occupying streams, boulders, or other natural features, collectively termed (in pidgin) masalai; and clan spirits depicted by ceremonial carvings.

The three major Kwoma Ceremonies focus on the harvesting of yams; in each, men display different styles of painted and decorated wooden sculptures depicting powerful clan spirits (the agents thought responsible for the continuing fertility of yam gardens) and dance around these sculptures singing complex song cycles that celebrate incidents of note in the histories of individual clans.

Like other Sepik peoples they are famous for their art, principally wood carvings and paintings on bark. The bulk of plastic art decorates ceremonial buildings. The ceilings of these structures are lined with hundreds of paintings of totemic species, and the posts and beams are lavishly carved with sculptures depicting mythological personages and spirits. Kwoma men’s houses are among the greatest of all artworks in the Pacific region.

This beautiful old sculpture is one of my favorite Oceanic Artworks that I have owned, it has a soft gentle feel where is often Middle Sepik artworks can seem aggressive, Waskuk/ Kwoma Art in my opinion is one of the great art styles of Papua New Guinea

Provenances: Phillip Goldman Galley UK (1922-2012)

The Allen Christensen Collection Allen Christensen 1908-1981

On Loan to the Art Gallery of West Australia 1978-1989

Sotheby’s Auctions Oct 27-28th 1996 Sydney Lot No 13 ( Lot 80 is also available)

The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea & Oceanic Art

In 1972, The Christensen Fund began to focus its support on the visual arts and bought its first art collection, a group of Pomo Indian baskets now at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum. When the late Allen Christensen took his mining and construction company to the far, exotic regions of the planet, he discovered a passion for artefacts to match his enthusiasm for business. The American civil and mining engineer’s giant family company, Utah Construction, was better known in some places for Christensen’s philanthropy, which ranged from marine research in New Guinea to medical research and a passion for artworks that he loaned to museums in the US and Australia. Christensen was a voracious collector of tribal and contemporary art. He collected tens of thousands of Indigenous artefacts and artworks in his travels over 30 years. He and his wife Carmen put them into the internationally respected Christensen Fund, which included Aboriginal works in an Australian collection.

References: Bowden, Ross: Yena: Art and Ceremony in a Sepik Society Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford 1983

Newton, Douglas Crocodile & Cassowary Museum of Primitive Art, NY.

Wardwell, Allen Island Ancestors Oceanic Art form the Masco Collection University of Washington Press 1994

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 Collection of Antique Dayak Charms Borneo Island Indonesia 19th to Early 20th Century

A Superb Collection of Antique Dayak Charms Borneo Island Indonesia 19th to Early 20th Century (Height 6cm to 8cm)

Dayak Amulet Figures & Charms were always fascinating to me, the first ones I saw were in Bali 40 years ago when the better antique dealers always had a few genuine old Dayak Amulets for sale.

My collection of Dayak Amulets was put together over four decades by buying the best examples that I could find both in Indonesia & from art dealers & collectors around the world.

Small carvings in the form of human figures, anthropomorphic creatures and animals in contorted positions are found throughout the numerous Dayak communities of Borneo.

The Amuulets are made by a shamanic priest, these talismanic charms are kept within the family apartments of communal longhouses, attached to baby carriers and cribs, or worn by individuals on necklaces and belts.

In an environment where great dangers are posed by both the natural and supernatural world, amulets provide the living with protection against harm, illness and other calamities. While some were intended to scare off evil forces, others alluded to concepts and legends associated with the Dayak universe.

These Dayak amulets were also used in medicinal preparations, where you can see on the amulets, small parts of the body are shaved or carved off to add to botanical preparations that treat all kinds of illness.

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

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.

A Superb Paiwan/ Rukai Tribe Chiefly Grain Storage Container from Taiwan Formosa Island Late 19th to early 20th Century

A Superb Paiwan/Rukai Tribe Chiefly Grain Storage Container called Puludru from Taiwan Formosa Island Late 19th to early 20th Century

This superbly carved Grain Storage Container called Puludru was used solely by chiefly households for safe storage of their grain. This large Grain Storage Container is carved from a single piece of hardwood, the designs are carved in very high relief which makes the figures look three-dimensional, and there is an encrusted patina from long use over generations.

The Paiwan or Rukai people’s grain barrels are large containers used in all households to store unprocessed food such as millet, sweet potatoes, and taro. Most of these large grain barrels are made by simply hollowing out a solid tree trunk into a cylindrical shape, most household items are not decorated with carvings, but only those used solely by Chiefs or nobles would be carved with patterns such as ancestor figures & snakes like this fine example.

The main crops of the Paiwan people in the early days were millet, taro, sweet potato, peanut, and tree beans, later, due to frequent contact with the Han people, they also began to grow rice.

The main iconography on this container is a powerful figure of a Chief or Deified Ancestor along with the important Two Hundred-Pacer Snakes which are above him and on his chest. The Hundred-Pacer Snakes (Agkistrodon acutus), which is one of the most important characters in Paiwan mythology, and is generally considered to be the pro-creator of the Chiefs and nobles.

The legs of the Storage Container are carved heads which the Chiefs are standing on this relates to the ancient practice of headhunting. 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 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 and ritual objects like this fine old Grain Storage Container

Provenance: Old Collection Taiwan, The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Asian Art.

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.

A Fine Old New Guinea Gope Spirit Board Era River Area Papuan Gulf Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Gope Spirit Board from the Era River Area Papuan Gulf Province Papua New Guinea

This finely carved old Gope Board is from the Era People in the Wapo Creek Area in the Papuan Gulf on the South Coast of Papua New Guinea.

Gope also called “Spirit Boards” are the embodiment of powerful spirits that represent each clan, no two Gope boards are the same, Gope Boards such as this one represent and serve as a dwelling place for an individual imunu spirit. In the past, the primary focus of religious and artistic life in the region was on powerful spirits (imunu). Each imunu typically was associated with a specific location in the landscape, rivers, or sea, and was linked to the specific clan within whose territory it dwelt.

Gope Boards were sometimes made from the sides of old canoes which provide a ready-made flat shape to carve the Gope boards from.
This Gope Board shows the genius of the artist, he was not constrained by the size or the shape of the wood, the powerful face and abstract body both work to the great visual effect.

In pre-European contact times, the Papuan Gulf people made huge ceremonial houses with peaked roofs called Ravi, this is where the Gope Spirit Boards and other types of ceremonial objects were kept safe & secret from the uninitiated. Gope boards were often kept on shrines that had boars’ skulls and human skulls from headhunting placed around them on racks.

The Papuan Gulf people had complex ceremonial cycles that took sometimes a decade to complete. There are many distinct art styles in the Papuan Gulf stretching from the Elema area in the east to the Bamu area in the west and they are also neighbors of the Gogodala & Marind Anim people who live on both sides of the border that splits the island between Papua New Guinea and West Papua Indonesia.

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

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.

A Superb Old Kanak Bird Head Club New Caledonia 19th Century

A Superb Old Kanak Bird Head Club New Caledonia 19th Century (Height 77cm)

The distinctively shaped Bird Head Clubs of New Caledonia were prestigious objects created for use by chiefs. The clubs symbolized wealth and high rank, and on some occasions served as gifts during ceremonial exchanges.

The Kanak Birds Head Clubs are called porowa ra maru in the Kanak Language. This very elegant Club is carved from a single piece of hardwood, the reddish-coloured hardwood gets a beautiful warm patina from generations of use & handling.

The heads of the clubs are carved in the form of stylized bird heads typically distinguished, as here, by long, pointed beaks. However, as none of New Caledonia’s indigenous birds has a similar beak, some scholars have suggested that the image instead represents the head of a sea turtle with its projecting, beaklike mouth.

This example is in very fine original condition and one of the best Kanak Clubs I have owned in 40 years.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia late 19th Century

The Todd Barlin Collection of Kanak & Oceanic Art

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.

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Middle Sepik River Area East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Sawos People Middle Sepik River Area East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

This fine old used Basket Hook Figure is from the Sawos People in the Middle Sepik River area in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea.

Finely carved from a single piece of hardwood in the form of a standing female ancestor her feet resting on the top of the hook where once string bags were kept this area shows extensive long use. The surface of this figure has a nice aged patina from long use and handling over several generations

The ancestor figure expressive face with inset cowrie shell eyes, and her mouth is open showing her teeth, she holds her hands to her sides as if she is commanding your attention.

This sculpture comes from an ancient tradition of artworks made to connect people to their ancestors & the spirit world. Spirits or mythical beings associated with specific clans whose powers assure the success of agriculture, hunting, fishing, and other human endeavours.

Basket hooks were used to hang from the ceiling by a rope and string bags of food or other important objects that then could not be reached by rats or mice. A simple effective technology used by cultures around the world.

Sepik River artists made many beautiful unitarian art objects that were both functional and a way of honouring and making visible their ancestors in daily life.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia. The Todd Barlin Private Collection of Oceanic Art

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.

A Fine Old New Guinea Drum Huon Gulf area Morobe Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Drum from the Huon Gulf area Morobe Province Papua New Guinea Early 20th Century

This fine carved old Drum I immediately liked, because of the surrealist look of two large protruding noses with pierced septums, this shows the ancestors seen & unseen in daily life, there is also likely a sense of humour from the artist.

Old drums like this fine example were family heirlooms often used over generations of family. The lug handle and whole drum have a deep old shiny patina from long use and storage over decades. The use of drums is important to all traditional ceremonies where drumming and singing relate stories of ancient ancestral beings who are invoked for protection & fertility.

The incised clan designs in the middle are finely carved and there is an overall balance to the Drum that makes it look like a fine Surrealist Sculpture. The original Drum Skin is still intact

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

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.

Archives: Art For Sale

A Fine Old Abelam Yam Mask Prince Alexander Mountains East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old Aboriginal Bark Painting of Possums from Northeast Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia

A Fine Old Aboriginal Bark Painting from Northeast Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia

A Superb Old New Guinea Minja Ceremonial Figure Kwoma People Waskuk Area Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Superb Collection of Antique Dayak Charms Borneo Island Indonesia 19th to Early 20th Century

A Superb Paiwan/ Rukai Tribe Chiefly Grain Storage Container from Taiwan Formosa Island Late 19th to early 20th Century

A Fine Old New Guinea Gope Spirit Board Era River Area Papuan Gulf Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old Kanak Bird Head Club New Caledonia 19th Century

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Middle Sepik River Area East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Drum Huon Gulf area Morobe Province Papua New Guinea

Join Our Mailing List

Oceanic Arts Australia

Art Categories

Information

Resources