Archives: Art For Sale

SOLD PLEASE SEE OTHER ARTWORKS

Fine Old New Guinea Coconut Spinning Tops Abelam People East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

These beautiful old Spinning Tops are made from coconut shells and incised clan designs, coconut is a hardwood and difficult to carve, it’s quite amazing the skill of the artists who made these. Spinning tops seem to be a type of object independently created by many world cultures and used as kids’ toys.

The Abelam people who live in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea,  spinning tops are used both as kid’s toys but also as a ceremonial game that initiated men play with the winner thought to be the clan that will have the biggest ceremonial yams during that years harvest. The concave surface is decorated with various stylized and other geometric designs.

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. Lavishly adorned for the presentation ceremony, the finest long yams are essentially transformed into human images, decorated in the manner of men in full ceremonial regalia. The “heads” of the enormous tubers are adorned with specially made yam masks such as this one, which are made exclusively for yams and are never worn by humans.

Similar tops used in a harvest ceremony are illustrated in fig. 48 in Margaret Mead’s book on the Abelam’s neighbors, the Mountain Arapesh.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

ENQUIRE 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 enquires, please contact us.

SOLD PLEASE SEE OTHER ARTWORKS

Fine Old New Guinea Massim Lime Spatulas Milne Bay Provence Papua New Guinea,19th Century

The utensils made for chewing betel nut are some of the most beautiful smaller-scale carvings made in New Guinea. Lime Spatulas are usually carved from a dark native ebony hardwood with the finials usually depicting a stylized human ancestor figure in profile.

These six lime spatulas show the high quality of aesthetics that Massim Master Carvers could achieve working on this scale. After carving & polishing the artist would put white lime into the incised designs to highlight them.

Lime Spatulas were used for chewing betel nuts by dipping the end into powdered lime (crushed & burnt sea shells) & licking it off as you put a Betel Nut from the Acacia Palm to chew together, the lime diffuses the alkaloids in the Acia Nuts. In the Massim Culture chewing of Betel Nut is an important daily ritual. Betel Chewers would have a lime gourd & spatula for dipping into the lime, older men with poor teeth would also have a small mortar and pestle for crushing the nuts into a mush where easy to eat.

Many of the most beautiful Massim Lime Spatulas were made by Master Carvers for use only by important Chiefly Persons. The motifs are part of the Massim belief system & spirituality

All six of these Lime Spatulas were kept by me over the last 40 years that I had been collecting them as they showed the great skill and imagination the carvers had. Number D has been identified by the world-renowned Massim Art Scholar Dr. Harry Beran as “ THE MASTER OF THE CONCAVE BACK “

Provenance: 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.

For all enquiries, please contact us.

Two Fine Old New Guinea Marupai Charms Papuan Gulf Area, Papua New Guinea 19th Century

These beautifully carved dwarf coconuts called Marupai were important magical charms or amulets that most men would have had. The incised designs highlighted with infilled lime are based on clan totems. Each clan would have its own style of Marupai unique to them. T

hey had immense spiritual power that could be used in many ways. The people from the Papuan Gulf Area on the South Coast of Papua New Guinea were some of the finest artists from the Island of New Guinea. Their great ceremonial and spiritual cycles took years to complete and many types of artworks were produced for these traditional ceremonies, the main ones that people are familiar with are Gope Boards, Gope are also known as Kwoi in the Kikori , Baimaru . Uruma, Hohao, and Orokolo areas of the Papuan Gulf.  They represent the spirits of ancestral heroes that can protect clans from evil spirits and death.

Marupai Charms were used for:

“ They were used for magic such as to protect a man & his family from being attacked through the spirit world and sorcery.

They were used to send and deliver messages to other people with Marupai through the spirit world.

They were used in warfare to confuse an enemy with their powers

They were used as hunting charms for finding wild pigs & cassowary birds.

They were used to transport a person magically from one place to another.

They were used to control the weather “

These charms were kept in small woven bags & sometimes hung around the neck of a sorcerer.

Provenance: Ex Toast and Rohu Sydney Collection, 19th Century. The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic New Guinea Art

ENQUIRE 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.

Four Fine Old Nepal Milk Jar Lids Western Nepal 19th Century

These old wood Jar Stoppers from Western Nepal all have carved ancestor figures on the finial. They were used to close the jars holding Ghee or Clarified Butter. The Tribal people that live in the Himalayas make Ghee is a type of clarified butter that originated in ancient India and is commonly used in cuisines, traditional medicine, and religious rituals. Ghee is prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from cream and removing the liquid residue. The texture, colour, and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter, source of the milk used in the process and the duration of the boiling. The whole purpose of Ghee was to clarify the butter to keep it from spoiling. In Hindu culture, the cow is sacred, and butter is the only animal fat that Hindus will eat. The cow represents the soul, with its obstinate intellect, and unruly emotions, but it is also gentle and generous. The butter gives a sacred offering, fuel for lamps, and so valuable for food.

The ghurra or churning rod-handle are a tool for churning milk into butter. Besides possessing an important functional side, ghurras give expression to the age-old Hindu creation myth, the Samudra Manthana: the churning of the milk ocean by the gods and demons, which is also a story with the endless struggle between the forces of good and evil.

By using the ghurra the churning process evokes a reality that is inherent to people. In this way, the space-time structure of the mountain people is measured in moments of everlasting holy time (darshan), a ritual action whose initial inner significance was laid down in centuries and centuries ago.

Inspired by their religious convictions and folk customs, Nepalese mountain people have transposed the original mythological churning rope used to rotate and support the churning rod during churning into sublimely beautiful wooden sculptures full of religious meaning. Ghurras also emanate sublime symbolism through their particular schematic design. They consist of geometric elements that abstractly evoke the gods of the Hindu pantheon.

Ghurras, therefore, can be interpreted as a symbolic stimulus for great devotion to God so that in every object or attitude, in every action undertaken, a deep underlying sacred reality is recognized and given expression: Brahman.

The information on this subject relies on the book Divine Support by Paul de Smedt, published by Book Faith India 2000.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Asian Art

ENQUIRE 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.

Fine Old New Guinea Lime Spatulas Tufi Area Oro Province Papua New Guinea

This Fine Collection of Five  Lime Spatulas from the Tufi Area in Oro Province Papua New Guinea. Dating from the 19th Century to early 20th Century.

Each spatula has very fine incised designs on both sides, the designs relating to a specific clan and their body tattoo designs. All of these beautiful old Lime Spatulas have dark shiny patina from decades of use.

Betel nut chewing is very much part of daily life for people all over Papua New Guinea, The betel nut, the seed of the Areca palm, is common across Asia and the Pacific.  In Papua New Guinea, where it is known locally as “buai“, it is consumed with a mustard stick dipped in slaked lime powder (burnt & crushed seashells)

The traditional artists of New Guinea make beautiful implements to use when chewing betel nuts such as lime gourds to hold the lime, & beautifully carved and decorated wood spatulas like these and in many areas beautiful carved mortar & pestles used to crush betel nuts when older and lacking strong teeth.

Some of the most beautiful small-scale artworks in New Guinea are made for chewing betel nuts.

The spatula is used to put lime into your mouth to chew with the betel nut. This brings out the alkaloid in the betel nut that is a stimulant much like a cup of coffee or nicotine.

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 in 1996 (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 Collection Of Old Micronesian Ancestor Figures Caroline Islands Federated States of Micronesia

This collection of 25 figures represents the different styles of figurative carving from the Islands that make up the Micronesian Archipelago now called the Federated States of Micronesia. Some of these figures are from the 19th Century & others from the early 20th century up to the end of WW2. I was delighted to see and learn about the great variations in the styles of these amazing figures, from cubist to realistic form and one totally abstracted form ( possibly in the process of being finished )

See this example of a 19th Century Figure at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/319233

The most interesting and comprehensive study of these figures can be found in the article ” From Sacred to Souvenir, the squatting figure as a Motif in Micronesian Art” in the Tribal Arts Magazine Autumn / Summer 2002 Issue, by Barbara Wavell. The article can be found online at:

http://www.academia.edu/933808/FROM_SACRED_TO_SOUVENIR_THE_SQUATTING_FIGURE_AS_A_MOTIF_IN_MICRONESIAN_ART

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

ENQUIRE 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 enquires, please contact us.

Superb Collection of Antique New Guinea Massim Lime Spatulas from the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea 19th to early 20th Century

These Lime Spatulas show the high quality of aesthetics that Massim Master Carvers could achieve working on this scale. After carving & polishing the artist would put white lime into the incised designs to highlight them.

The utensils made for chewing betel nut are some of the most beautiful smaller-scale carvings made in New Guinea. Lime Spatulas are usually carved from a dark native hardwood with elaborately carved finials depicting stylized human ancestor figures and or animals.

Lime Spatulas were used for chewing betel nuts by dipping the end of the spatula into powdered lime (crushed & burnt sea shells) & licking it off as you put a Betel Nut from the Acacia Palm to chew together, the lime diffuses the alkaloids in the Betel Nuts.

In the Massim Culture chewing Betel Nuts is an important daily ritual. Betel Chewers would have a lime gourd & spatula for dipping into the lime, and older men with poor teeth would also have a small mortar and pestle for crushing the nuts into a mush that was easier to eat.

Many of the most beautiful Massim Lime Spatulas were made by Master Carvers for use only by important Chiefly Persons. The motifs are part of the Massim belief system & spirituality.

Provenance:  The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art