Archives: Art For Sale

This fine old Shield was field collected by me in 1985 and has been hanging on my wall since it arrived in Australia. The owner of the shield is seen in my field photograph, at the time I collected the shield there were NO tourists were allowed to visit the Asmat Area. Many of the shields and artworks I field collected at that time are now on permanent display at the superb The Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris and other Museums around the world. This shield has a beautiful back handle that is composed of a second ancestor figure.

Provenance: 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 Old New Guinea Sago Pounder Ramu River Area Madang Province Papua New Guinea

Sago Pounders & many utilitarian objects are beautifully carved & decorated with ancestral images & totemic animals which is a visual reminder of the presence of their ancestors in day-to-day activities. Some carvers were famous for their utilitarian carvings like this Sago Pounder and they were highly sought by family members and clan members & even other villages.  This fione example has an abstract bird carving that was the artist’s signature carving.

Sago is the staple food for many people on the Island of New Guinea. Sago is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of Metroxylon sagu.  It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a glue-like paste, or as a pancake.

The whole family or extended family would have to go out to make sago flour every 2 weeks or so. First, the people usually have to travel some distance to where there are still many Sago Trees belonging to their clan the traditional owners of that land. The tree is cut down by men & then it is split open to expose the pith inside. The Pith is then extracted & pounded with a Sago Pounder like this example before being put through a sieve, the pith is then washed through a sieve. When the sago is washed through this process it coagulates at the bottom of the sieve where when settles it can be cut into blocks and carried back to the village in homemade backpacks. This will feed a family for 2 weeks or so, it is hard work but a regular routine for many people in New Guinea.

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 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 

 

 

NQUIRE 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 Bark Painting of a Kangaroo West Arnhem Land Northern Australia

This very beautiful old Bark Painting was made by an Australian indigenous artist from the Oenpelli Area of Western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.  The artist’s name is unrecorded on the painting but could it be attributed to a few senior Artists working in Western Arnhem Land in the 1950’s?

This type of painting is often referred to as ” Xray Style ” where the internal organs of the Kangaroo are shown in detail as if taken by an Xray. In Arnhem Land where people have lived for 60,000 years, the area is famous for its Rock Shelter Paintings made by indigenous people over centuries and millenniums. These cave paintings are superb and should not be missed if visiting Australia.  Totemic Animals and Ancestral Beings are well represented in Cave Paintings.  This Bark Painting could easily be seen as a Cave Painting, likely painted in the 1950’s it shows a large kangaroo in Xray Style painted in white, yellow, lack & red ochre. The painting has a real presence that the artist was communicating when he made this painting, the Kangaroo looks alive.  Early Bark Paintings like this example are rare. people hold onto them because they are so beautiful.  This is in reasonably good condition for its age. It has a museum conservator mounting that allows the bark to move slightly but keeps it safe from curling. There are slight undulations of the bark & this is natural for older bark paintings.

This superb exhibition and book from The National Museum of Australia in Canberra: Old Masters: Australia’s Great Bark Painters: see link below

https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/old-masters

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Aboriginal Art

 

A Fine Old New Guinea War Shield Simbai Area Madang Province Papua New Guinea

This beautiful old & well-used Shield is from the Kalam People in the Simbai Area of the Bismark Schrader Mountain Ranges in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea. This fine old shield is carved from a single piece of hardwood, pierced in the middle to hold a bush fibre rope handle. The upraised designs are made up of interlocking diamond shapes, the whole shield has an old black shiny patina. Kalam or Simbai Shields are highly sought by collectors because they fit in well with modern design & paintings. Warfare was widespread among traditional enemies in neighboring areas and alliances were made & broken regularly between groups. These shields were used in battle by two men, one pushing the shield forward and another warrior hiding behind the shield and free to use his bow and arrows with great accuracy.  Old photos of fighting in the New Guinea Highlands show many warriors with shields facing off over a large space where people surge forward and then move back.  I have seen warriors standing on rural dirt roads with their shields expecting a fight, this was in the 1980s, later when people acquired guns the shield became obsolete due to their not being effective against modern guns.

The Shield was collected by missionaries and later part of the finely curated John Rix Collection in Sydney.

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.

 

Australian Aboriginal Woomera Spear Thrower West Australia 19th Century

This beautiful old woomera of good form and finely incised with overlapping crosses and spaced by vertical striations. The top has the original peg intact it is bound with kangaroo sinew and resin, the woomera allows the user to lengthen their arm and be able to greatly increase the distance the spear can be thrown with great accuracy.  The handle has resin at the very bottom which keeps one’s hand slipping when being used. The back of the woomera is finely chipped and carved with traditional tools.

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.