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• Auction House:
  Theodore Bruce
• Sale Name:
  Fine Aboriginal & Oceanic Arts
• Sale Date:
  12 Mar 2017 ~ 11am
• Lot #:
  157
• Lot Description:
  A Sepik Orator's Stool
  in the form of an ancestral figure with protruding eyes and face surrounded by cowrie shell border. A raised extension runs in front of the face from forehead to below the mouth. During village debates in the men's house the stool base at the figure's rear is hit with a bundle of leaves known as a 'tangat' to emphasis a point in the speaker's oration. Once the orator has finished he will lay the tanget on the stool surface and the next orator will pick it up, signifyingthat he has the attention of the gathering. Purchased from the Kanganaman Haus Tambaran in 1971 just prior to its rebuild. This orator's stool was kept on a covered, open verandah in Lae for about 20 years and then indoors for about another 11 years until it was sent to Australia for safe keeping with the rest of this collection in 2002 until last year. Originally the figure had a good head covering of springy human hair.
• Provenance:
  Robin Hodgson Collection: Robin lived and worked in PNG from 1969 to 2003 where she developed and ran the Melanesian Art Centre in Lae for 30 years. Robin and, until 1996, her former husband Richard Leahy, conducted regular artefact collecting trips to the Sepik River; the Trobriand Islands; the Papuan Gulf and the Highland regions.
• Estimate:
  A$25,000 - 35,000
• 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.