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• Auction House:
  Deutscher and Hackett
• Sale Name:
  Part 2: Important Aboriginal & Oceanic Art
• Sale Date:
  27 Nov 2013 ~ 7pm
• Lot #:
  211
• Lot Description:
  Group Of Three Woven Yam Masks
  woven fibre with red, yellow, white and green pigments (3)
  varying sizes up to 45.0 cm height
• Artist:
  (Abelam, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea)
• Provenance:
  Private collection, Melbourne, collected in New Guinea in the late 1960s
• Notes:
  Yam masks are an essential part of the elaborate yam harvest ceremonies and festivals put on by the Abelam people of the East Sepik Province. Rituals associated with yams form the basis of the spiritual life of the Abelam. The masks can be elaborately woven , made from wood or a combination of both.; ; The Abelam say that their yams were given to them by a creation being, along with rules for living properly. As long as they followed this path, the yams grew easily. However, they drifted away from these ideals and the creation being killed himself in despair. After that, the yams only grew with very hard work.; ; At the yam harvest festival the best yams are prominently displayed. If a yam tuber grows straight it is considered a male and if it has protrusions it is considered female. These yams are named as ancestral spirits and decorated with attached woven basket masks which represent the ancestor. At this stage the yam is named and with the mask is considered as an individual personality.
• Estimate:
  A$1,200 - 1,500
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Tribal

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.