What's new
Tiki Forum

Aloha!
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox! Join our Tiki Community today!

PNG acquisitions

Lagoon of Mystery

Well-known member
My wife scored three nice Papua New Guinea pieces at an estate sale this past weekend--two masks and a suspension hook. The house was small and had nothing else tropical to it. An appraiser confirmed that these are tourist pieces, but by golly, they're nice tourist pieces. First up is a spirit mask originating from Mindabit (Mindimbit) Village at the junction of the Sepik and Karawari Rivers in Papua New Guinea. This is the only piece that came with any type of documentation and describes the mask as having "legendary bird on forehead." There are holes along the length of the bird that look like some kind of decoration was tied there in the past. It is my understanding these date from sometime after 1960.

PNG1a.jpg

PNG1b.jpg

PNG1d.jpg

PNG1e.jpg
 
This next mask is more along the lines of what I thinks of as a prototypical PNG mask. It's bright and bold and that's why I immediately thought it was most likely a tourist piece, albeit a nice one. It's too fresh and clean, if you take my meaning, although it's likely close to 50 years old. It's quite showy and will make a great attention-getter in my tiki space.

PNG2a.jpg

PNG2b.jpg

PNG2c.jpg
 
Our final piece is a PNG suspension hook! These things are iconic and I've long wanted one but never expected to come across one this big--it's roughly 30" long!--nor this detailed. I mean, the effort put into this carve is insane. The embedded shells are a given, but actual human hair? Really? There are indentations along the jaw where feathers were once embedded. It also seems to my untrained eye to be significantly older than the two masks we obtained. This thing is insane and as my wife pointed out, tourist piece or not it looks as good as many similar pieces we've seen in museums.

PNG3a.jpg

PNG3e.jpg

PNG3f.jpg

PNG3g.jpg

PNG3d.jpg

PNG3b.jpg

PNG3c.jpg
 
Oh, and one final story to share. As my wife was checking out with the masks displayed on the table, a woman and her husband entered the house. The woman took one look at the PNG artifacts and told her husband, "See those? They're evil! Demons live in them!" I guess we don't have to worry about her trying to outbid us!
 
Back
Top