Mindja Fertility Figure, Upper Sepik River

Chris Boylan Oceanic Art

FERTILITY FIGURE, Mindja, Nukuma, Washkuk Hills, Upper Sepik River, PNG

148 x 36 x 12cm

This Mindja is similar to many of the earlier large figures collected in the Washkuk Hills region and now in important museum colcetions. Though collected in 1972, it is much older, used over many generations, with different layers of paintwork and it has developed some dryrot on its base, no doubt from storage in secret huts. The figure has a wide open face, with typical cut out eyes and bow-shaped mouth, and a strong sharp nose hanging from the prominent brow.

The lower half of the Mindja are decorated with the typical trangular zig-zag forms and an undulating serpentine form. Where this example is extraordinary is the placement of six small ancestral faces boldly carved on the triangles and, below, small bird totem figures. Several of these lower bird figures are damaged but this does not detract from the power of the piece.  The back shows good age and use.

$7,500.00

Artwork details