Papua New Guinean Tribal Art

Early to mid-20th century bamboo rooster effigy, Terai, Nepal. A charming rooster made from the root of a bamboo from the Rai people of Terai, Nepal. He stands 8" high and his form ...

A well-loved traditional stool or seat from the Akan people of Ghana. The supports for Akan stools take many forms, they can be purely geometric or architectural with simple posts a...

This rare antique Kukukuku (pronounced "cookah-cookah") war club is from the remote Morobe Province located within the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The head is carved from...

This style of Tigre (Mexican colloquial for Jaguar) mask is from Zitlala, Guerrero, they are used on the feast day of the Holy Cross on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th. As part of the activit...

Antique Ethnic Artifact Sepik River Cassowary Bone from Papua New Guinea For many groups in Papua New Guinea, bone was an important medium for making tools of all types. This artifact is made from leg bone of a cassowary, a large, flightless, and extremely dangerous, bird. Cassowaries also play an important role in the mythology of groups in the Sepik River area. Though no longer used these bone artifacts are still used ceremonially. They often play important roles in male initiation and other rituals. They are also worn as personal adornment by tucking them into a band of braided fibers worn around the upper arm. Antique Ethnic Bone Cassowary Artifact with minimal carving and incised design confined to the joint end. A small hole has been drilled through from both sides of the top and presumably for the threading of a cord. The bone has been partially divided near the top and to form two prongs that project down the back of the dagger possibly allowing the user to wear is tuck into a waist band or belt. Origin Papua New Guinea Maprik Dist Area From the Art Collection of Marian and John Scott, acquired in 1962. Similar items are in display in the Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology. Purchased from the amazing private collection of Mark Lissauer who spent his life collecting niche ethnographic pieces. About Mark Lissauer: Mark Lissauer spent forty years travelling abroad for months at a time collecting ethnographic artefacts primarily from New Guinea and the islands of the West Pacific, and from Asia and Himalayan countries. Fluent in five languages and having in the course of business travelled to more than forty countries, Mark is well-known to museums and art-collectors around the world for his long career and his interesting and diverse collection of rare ethnographic material. Mark knows the origin and symbolism of each piece. Through extensive research and more than ninety trips around the globe, Mark familiarised himself with the traditions of the various cultures he visited in order to understand the meaning of each object to its region and tribe. His home has a specialist library and several rooms are filled with tribal carvings, textiles and ethnographica. He acquired his first tribal piece in 1948 during a business trip to Milne Bay, New Guinea, and has since documented the acquisition of some 35,000 items. Several thousands of these have been sold to important private collections and museums worldwide, including the Rockefeller Museum, the British Museum and the Musée National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, now incorporated into the Louvre Museum. Estimator certificate of authenticity by Wayne Heathcote Tribal Art Dealer and Expert. Heathcote has a flash gallery in Brussels, where much of the tribal art business is centred, and is an expert at Sotheby's tribal art sale...

This rare antique Kukukuku (pronounced "cookah-cookah") war club originates from the Morobe Province, which is a very remote area located within the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Gu...

3 Mid-Century modern pre-columbian style Aztec masks made with various tesselated semi-precious stone (lapis,onyx, quartz, mother-of-pearl) (PRICED EACH)

A yam ancestor TOTEM pole from the mid-Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. Carved out of a solid wood by the Abelam people, who cultivated yams as their main crop, the pole featu...

Early 20th Century African Antique Wood Comb with Human Head From the Chokwe Culture of Angola. A fine, old, much used comb with a glossy, glasslike patina...

Six Knobkerries from South Africa A group of six knobkerries from South Africa, mounted together on a wooden base. These were originally used as weapons during battle but have evolv...

Large woven painted basketry wall mask Blackwater rivers area, Papua New Guinea. With open expressive mouth and mask fringed with feathers, striking mask that easily hangs on the wal...

Early 20th century metal hanging amulet from native culture in Brazil. Known as 'Penca de Balangadas' was used in the ancient times as an amulet by the ...