|
|
African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting
|
|
|
|
|
Roof Finial Figure
Papua New Guinea, Lower Sepik region, Yuat River, Biwat people, early 20th century
Wood, traces of paint, shell, fiber, feathers; H: 57 1/2 in. (146 cm)
Provenance: A. Speyer, Berlin, 1930's; L. and E. Eckert-Voegelin, Basel, before 1978; Barbier-Mueller collection, since 1978
|
|
With its forward-leaning stance and staring eyes, this figure from the Biwat people of the Yuat River in northeast New Guinea was intended to crown the central ridgepole at the top of the gable of a men's ceremonial house. When in place, it gazed down at the comings and goings of the people below, and was protected by an awning of basketry or sago palm leaves to help safeguard it from the elements.
There is little information about the imagery and significance of Biwat sculpture. However, it is possible that the figure represents a dangerous ancestral being, known in the nearby village of Kinakaten as Bilishoi. According to oral tradition, Bilishoi, after leaving his original village, killed a group of men who were building a ceremonial house. Fleeing a counterattack by others, he climbed to the top of the ridgepole of the house, where the counterattackers began to throw spears at him. Bilishoi fended off the spears with his elbows until finally he was struck and killed by a spear hurled by a man using a spear thrower, which gave it extra velocity and force. The placement of a wood effigy of Bilishoi on the ridgepole of a ceremonial house may have evoked the memory of deaths that occurred during warfare as well as the destiny of a man too powerful and reckless to respect social conventions.
|
|
|
Back to main page for this exhibition
Back to images from this exhibition
