Art For Sale Archive - Page 7 of 49 - Oceanic Arts Australia

An Original Pair of Fine Old New Guinea Male & Female Brag Masks Coastal Sepik Area East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea

A Pair of Fine Old New Guinea Brag Masks Coastal Sepik Area East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea

Powerful Brag Masks like these fine examples were only danced on rare occasions, including the initiation of young males and at times of scarce food and other village hardships.

This is a true matched pair of male and female masks that were danced together. They were owned by a clan and each Brag Mask had a known personal name and was danced by an initiated male who was completely concealed in a plant fibre costume covering the whole body of the dancer. The dancer becomes the powerful Brag spirit for the time it is being danced.

These Masks are finely carved with intricate clan designs with layers of ochre & some trade paint which shows their importance.

In the Sepik River area people’s ceremonial & spiritual life revolves around masks, usually, dance masks worn by a select person but also large masks for the gables or windows of the monumental Ceremonial Haus Tambaran or Men’s Ceremonial House where all the important rituals & initiations take place and where scared objects like masks are stored and venerated.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY showing the Museums & Art Gallery 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 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 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 u

A Superb Old Micronesian Woven Basketry Fish Trap Yap Island Micronesia

A Superb Old Micronesian Woven Basketry Fish Trap Yap Island Micronesia

This beautiful old Fish Trap constructed from bamboo and coconut fibre coir rope was made with great skill like a complex architectural model based on mathematical engineering.

The Federated States of Micronesia is comprised of four states, Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Each state has its own unique traditional fishing practices. Across these islands, many different forms of traditional fishing knowledge were shared and fishermen ventured into the waters, relying on their ancestral knowledge to catch a diverse array of marine life.

The fishing basket trap is an apparatus used to trap fish with a funnel-like entrance that allows fish easy passage to get inside but difficult to get out. It is usually made from bamboo and other materials like rattan, the fishing basket trap is an ancient way to catch fish probably used by human beings for many thousands of years. People around the world have the custom of using fishing basket traps that come in various shapes & technology specific to the type of fish being sought.

When fishing in a lagoon with calm water, you can sink the fishing basket trap with a float connected to show the location. The back part of the basket is always an enclosure where a piece of bait is provided. Catching fish with a fishing basket trap is a sustainable way to food resources. It was a reliable method to get food for humans for thousands of years. The techniques of weaving and making use of the fishing basket were indispensable knowledge for the people of that time. This sustainable practice not only maintains local livelihoods but also preserves the fragile marine ecosystems that are vital to the nation’s well-being.

The Pacific Ocean plays a central role in the lives of Micronesians, not only is it used for fishing, inter-island travel, and, formerly, warfare, but it also serves as a conduit for trade networks and political alliances. Micronesian artworks directly associated with the ocean include Basketry Fish Traps like this example and the important Stick Navigation Charts and Weather Charms from Yap Island both of which were associated with long ocean voyages.

Yalulawei, benevolent water spirits were summoned by the navigator or fisherman through chanting to ensure a smooth and safe voyage during fishing.

If you are interested in antique Micronesian Art I have some very beautiful old artworks for museums or collectors , see the other Micronesian artworks on my website

Provenance: Old Collection Australia & The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Micronesian Art

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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 u

A Superb Old New Guinea Dance Staff from Vitu Island in the Bismarck Sea off Northern New Britain Island Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Dance Staff from Vitu Island in the Bismarck Sea off Northern New Britain Island Papua New Guinea

Many of the traditional Dance Ceremonies performed in New Britain & the surrounding Islands such Witu/ Vitu, the dancers often held Dance Wands or Dance Clubs during their performance.

Masked dancers representing powerful ancestral spirits or spirits from the bush or ocean also often held Dance Wands or Dance Staffs, this beautiful old example must have been used in this manner. The refined carving of an Ancestral Face at the top followed by an animated totemic snakes down most of the length of the club. It has beautiful colours; blue from Rickets Soap Cake, with white & traces of red & the whole club has an old dry patina from long use & handling.

In New Britain Island which is culturally & artistically linked to the Witu Islands, the Tolai People, Sulka People, Nakanai People, and Baining People to name a few all used Dance Wands in their Dance Performances with Masked Dancers

Long ago I owned another Witu Island Dance Wand which had a three-dimensional head in the form of the well-known Witu Helmet Masks, this was collected in the 1960s but the example here is older.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

Please have a look at my EXHIBITIONS Gallery https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/about/exhibition-and-publications/ which shows many of the exhibitions & public Museums & Art Galleries I have worked with in the past.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and 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 neighbors.

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 Waskuk Nogwi Figure Kwoma People Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Waskuk Nogwi Figure from the Kwoma People on the Upper Sepik River Area in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

Nogkwi is one of three distinct 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. These ceremonies are associated with the harvesting of yams. There are two other Yam Harvest Ceremonies that are associated with a distinctive form of sculpture, Yina & Minja,

Nogwi was the last and most secret Yam Harvest Ceremony, confined to the most powerful, senior men in society who were both homicides and the fathers of many children.

Douglas Newton in his book: Crocodile and Cassowary – Religious Art of the Upper Sepik River, New Guinea”. The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1971, p. 88)

Newton recorded: “The Honggwa m ma had several supplementary musical performances for the Nogwi, these were duets played on two sacred flutes the rhythms on this occasion representing the calls of Cassowary birds and the blowing of a Conch Shell Trumpet & a wood carved side-blown trumpet, these sounds were the signal to start the work of building of a high fence around the ceremonial house by the young men and after they were sent away.

The Nogwidji or senior men dug a trench along one side of the ceremonial house and the young men then filled the trench with water. A large platform was built over the trench with an aperture above it for a Water Drum. Around the edge of the platform were fixed horizontally with skulls of important ancestors with decorations of shell ornaments trailing to the ground.

The Nogwi carvings were then brought into the house; they were two almost life-size figures of mythical women named Hameiyau and Sanggriayau. The Nogwidji went about the village, from which the women had run away in fear of the figures, smashing the pots belonging to the people of their respective clans–the destruction was later attributed to the female spirits.” At night the men played the Water Drum. At dawn, the men went into the bush and played the four special instruments. The men then shouted, “Hameiyau and Sanggriayau are escaping catch them catch them “.

The old Nogwi & other Ceremonial Figures are hidden in garden huts, away from the village when not in use, as 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 as their power lies in the bright polychrome ochre paint applied to their surfaces, for the Kwoma 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 Nogwi figure is displayed as a focus, many lesser Nogkwi & other associated figures and pottery heads may be used. The Nogkwi 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. Slit gong drums are played and songs of myth relating to the yam harvest are sung. At the finish of the ceremony, the Nogkwi is stripped of its decorations, wrapped tightly in sheaths from the black palm, and returned to the garden hut.

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.

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 artwork in the Pacific region “.

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

Provenance: Collected by William Barclay in New Guinea 1967 & The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

Exhibited Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Oceanic Art from the Todd Barlin Collection at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 2014

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

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 War Shield Asmat People West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

A Superb Old New Guinea War Shield from the Asmat People on the South Coast of West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

This fine old and well-used shield was collected at Weo Village on the Wasar River area of the remote Northwest Asmat on the South Coast of West Papua (Irian Jaya) Indonesia.

The carver of this shield had been deceased for a decade according to the Catholic Priest in Sawa Erma in 1985. The carver was the last great master carver of this very old style of Shield, The shield would date from the 1940s-1950s. There is one similar shield in the Asmat Museum at the Crosier Mission in Agats Asmat that was collected by my friend Tobias Schneebaum in the 1970s.

Asmat Shields were important objects that venerated their ancestors, each shield had a personal name and when invoked during warfare the enemy was said to be frightened or stunned and easy to kill. The main Asmat creation myth is about the creator Fumeripitjs who was lonely so he carved figures from wood and then he made a drum, when he played the drum the carved wood figures came to life and that is how the first Asmat people were created. For the Asmat the connection between trees and people and the forest is profound.

I spent a lot of time in the Asmat region in the early 1980s and old and used Shields of this quality in the Coastal and Northwest Asmat Areas were rare. Many of the artworks I collected then are now in major museum collections around the world including The Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris, when you walk into the Oceanic Art Pavilion at The Musee du Quai Branly the first thing you see is the monumental ancestor poles from the Asmat & Mimika along with Dance Costumes Shields and large Soul Canoe, all of these were field collected by me. Originally they were in an exhibition ” Asmat et Mimika at The National Museum of African and Oceanic Art in 1996 (now that museum is part of The Musee du Quai Branly). The exhibition the Asmat and Mimika in 1996 was published in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine see the link below and a photo of the exhibition above.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Shields.

I have been collecting New Guinea Shields since 1983 when I bought my very first shield, over the next 35 years I bought the very best New Guinea Shields that I could for my collection;

References: The Shields of Melanesia ” 2005 Edited by Harry Beran & Barry Craig

This whole book mainly on New Guinea Shields is one of the best references ever published & I owned 28 of the Shields in this book

I helped write three chapters in the most important book on New Guinea Shields, ” Shields of Melanesia ” 2005 edited by Harry Beran and Barry Craig. These were the chapters I wrote for this important reference book including a Chapter on the Asmat & South Coast of West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia.

3.1 Shields from the North Coast of Western New Guinea: Pages 28- 32 : West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

5.1 The Shields of the Highlands of Western New Guinea : Pages 112- 1117 : Yali Shields Central Highlands West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

6.1 Shields from the Southern Lowlands of Western New Guinea: Pages 155-165 : Four areas of The Asmat People and Digul River areas.

See my new exhibition 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

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 Asmat Ancestor Figure West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

This Superb Old New Guinea Ancestor Figure is from the Asmat People on the South Coast of West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

This finely carved figural group of three stacked ancestors is done in the style of the most well-known of Asmat artworks called MBis Ancestor Poles, this well might be a section of a large six-meter-tall Bis Pole Sculpture that was damaged and carved to save this section. Likely carved in the 1960s, it shows the great artistic skills of Asmat Master Cavers or Wow Ipits in the Asmat Language.

The main Asmat creation myth is about the creator Fumeripitjs who was lonely so he carved figures from wood and then made a drum, when he played the drum the carved wood figures came to life and that is how the first Asmat people were created, it explains the deep bond between the Asmat people and trees & the forest.

The Asmat & their art are well-known partially because Michael Rockefeller Jnr went missing in the Asmat Area on November 17, 1961, he was collecting Asmat Artworks for the then Museum of Primitive Art in New York, now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art where his collection is still beautifully displayed in the Michal Rockefeller Wing of African, Oceanic Arts one of the great Museums in the world

I spent a lot of time in the Asmat region in the early 1980s and Ancestor Figures of this quality in the Coastal and Northwest Asmat Areas were rare.

Many of the artworks I collected then are now in major museum collections around the world including The Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris, when you walk into the Oceanic Art Pavilion at The Musee du Quai Branly the first thing you see is the monumental Ancestor Poles from the Asmat & Mimika along with Dance Costumes Shields and large Soul Canoe. all of which were field collected by me. Originally they were in an exhibition ” Asmat et Mimika at The National Museum of African and Oceanic Art in 1996 (now that museum is part of The Musee du Quai Branly). The exhibition the Asmat and Mimika in 1996 was published in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine which you can see & read in my EXHIBITIONS GALLERY link below

Look here at my new EXHIBITIONS Gallery. to see the many places in the world where my artworks have been shown over the past 40 years

Provenance: Professor Jim Peterson (1939-2012) Canberra. Jim accompanied Robert Mitton to Irian Jaya in 1973 to further the geographic knowledge of this little-known part of the Island of New Guinea. I am pretty certain that this Ancestor figure was collected by Bob Mitton & given as a gift to Jim Peterson as it seems Dr Peterson did not go to the South Coast area where the Asmat are. Travel in West Papua at this time was highly restricted by the Indonesian Government, The Robert Mitton Collection of Asmat & West Papuan Art is at the University of Sydney Chau Chak Wing Museum

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 inquiries, please contact us.

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Kwoma People Waskuk Area Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure from the Kwoma People in the Waskuk Area of the Upper Sepik River East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

This rare and beautiful double-sided Basket Hook Figure was made from the intense creativity of a Kwoma artist, depicting either a power Bush or Water Spirit called sikilawos whose legs & arms are transformed into totemic birds. It is beautifully painted with both ochre and trade paint. This is the only Kwoma Sculpture or similar Basket Hook Figure that I have ever seen.

Basket Hooks were used for protecting food or other objects from rodents, the hook would hang from the ceiling by a rope, and string bags were hung from the hook with 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 like Basket Hooks that were both functional and a way of honoring and making visible their ancestors and spirits in daily life.

Birds in New Guinea art can be important clan totems and also anthropomorphic spirit beings that are the primordial bird-men and bird-women, who 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 Oceanic Art

Exhibited Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Oceanic Art from the Todd Barlin Collection at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 2014

The Kwoma people and their closely related neighbors the Nukuma and Manambu 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 each involving different types of figures.

For the annual ceremonies, both old and new 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.

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

A Fine New Guinea Sago Spathe Painting Keram River Lower Sepik River Area East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine New Guinea Sago Spathe Painting from the Keram River Area in the Lower Sepik River Area of the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea

Throughout New Guinea, men’s ceremonial houses or Haus Tambaran were the primary focus for painting and sculpture. This beautiful painting represents a specific clan’s ancestors’ spirits or supernatural beings & totemic animals like birds.

Typically, entry into the ceremonial house is restricted to initiated men, although in some cases, women and children can enter under certain circumstances for specific events. Ceremonial houses serve as the venue for nearly all important male religious rites – such as initiation rites for young boys – and at other times function as meeting houses or informal gathering places. Their structure and the way they are decorated can take on many different local forms and styles.

Paintings are made on sheets of bark or sago, the bark-like bases of the leaves of the sago palm tree, which are trimmed and flattened to create a flat roughly rectangular surface that tapers slightly according to the natural form. After a curing process, the artist covers the smooth side of the sheet with a wash of black clay. The main outlines of the design are laid out in clear water, retraced in paint, and then filled in with colour. Although one man lays out the design, an assistant may perform the work of infilling and painting the bordering dots.

When completed, the paintings are tied to the rafters on the underside of the ceiling with lengths of split cane. The panels are arranged lengthwise along the axis of the house, with a few rows placed laterally at its midpoint. The midpoint forms not only the center of the structure–the most ritually important area–but also roughly indicates the sectors allotted to each clan evoking the strength, unity, and identity of the village clans, whose members gather on the earthen floor beneath them to perform religious rites or initiation ceremonies.

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

A Superb Old Australia Aboriginal Shield from Western Australia

A Superb Old Australia Aboriginal Shield Bardi People Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

This finely carved shield with a rare geometric & herringbone design on the front and was coated with ceremonial red ochre, the back has incised linear striations in horizontal bands. The deep lug handle and entire shield has an old dry patina. 19th to early 20th Century.

Shields are one of the most beautiful objects made by the indigenous people in Australia. This finely carved shield has the same design elements on both the front and the back, the incised design consists of horizontal bands of vertical striations and then followed by a band of wavy lines this is repeated from the top to the bottom of the shield to beautiful effect.

The role of shields in tribal culture is to provide personal defense against blows and missiles; also, importantly shields serve to reflect an image of power, identity, and tribal group. Each tribal group has different design elements on their shields which instantly make them identifiable to other tribes.

Reference: Interlocking Key Design in Aboriginal Australian Decorative Art. Dr. D. S. Davidson First published: September 1949

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

A Superb Aboriginal Painting (a numbered screen print of the original) from Western Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia

This Superb Painting ( a numbered signed print of the original) by the famous Artist Bardyal (Lofty) Nadjamerrek, (1926-2009) from the Outstation Gamarrwagan, Western Arnhem Land Northern Australia Language: Kunwinjku

“ The Meeting “ circa 1980. The original Painting is likely in an Australian public collection
This Numbered screen print 108 or 500/ signed & artist thumbprint on edge. On Archival Thick Paper

This superb painting called ” The Meeting ” depicts a ceremonial gathering in the artist’s land.

He began painting works for sale on bark in 1969 at Oenpelli and has developed an outstanding reputation first as a painter on bark and more recently on paper, using traditional ochre pigments.
His X-ray style of painting is strongly linked back to the tradition of painting on rock and his own experience as a young man. He is particularly known for paintings of Ngalyod and Yingarna (the Rainbow Serpents).

In 1972 Bardyal left Oenpelli and returned to clan lands in western Arnhem Land and in 1988 he moved to Gamarrwagan where he has lived ever since.

Lofty possesses a rich store of mythological knowledge. As a ritually senior man, he is responsible for Ancestral sites and mythologies from his own
patrilineal clan lands (father’s country). For this reason, he is known as Djungay (manager).
Subjects and Themes: Rainbow serpents, other mythical beings; animals

Collections held: National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Australian Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney), numerous other museums and major collections.

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 particular 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 the 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 his “skin”, or his clan, and 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 stayed during seasonal food gathering.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic and Australian Aboriginal

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

An Original Pair of Fine Old New Guinea Male & Female Brag Masks Coastal Sepik Area East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea

INQUIRE HERE

A Superb Old Micronesian Woven Basketry Fish Trap Yap Island Micronesia

INQUIRE HERE

A Superb Old New Guinea Dance Staff from Vitu Island in the Bismarck Sea off Northern New Britain Island Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Waskuk Nogwi Figure Kwoma People Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea War Shield Asmat People West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

A Superb Old New Guinea Asmat Ancestor Figure West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Kwoma People Waskuk Area Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Fine New Guinea Sago Spathe Painting Keram River Lower Sepik River Area East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old Australia Aboriginal Shield from Western Australia

A Superb Aboriginal Painting (a numbered screen print of the original) from Western Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia

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