PREHISTORIC STONE FIGURES, New Guinea Highlands

Chris Boylan Oceanic Art

TWO PRE-HISTORIC STONE FIGURES, Highlands of Papua New Guinea

a)   22 x 13 x 4.5cm    $ 2,800    

b)   10 x 4.5 x 6cm      $ 2,800

These  remarkable stone figures were carved several  thousand of years before contact and by a group whose culture was quite different to that of the present population. These stone figures were often found during garden construction or digging for house construction. They became objects of magic and power as the present culture know nothing of their origin.

a)        Stone Torso, Chimbu. Collected by Ivan Smitmanis, a patrol officer based in Kundiawa, Chimbu in the 1960s.  The figure is headless and part of one arm missing. But the arms and body are archetypal, both ringed and the clavicle bone prominent across the chest. Below this are two pert nipples, The figure in its partial state exhudes a quite amazing presence. The stone appears to be white granite.

b)        Stone Figure, Liagam Valley, Enga. Collected by Ron Ingle 1962-63 when working for Dawsett Engineering in Enga. The figure is complete with an arched squatting form, a long snout that may suggest echidna-like, but uncertain. Often these ancient stone figures morph several animals of human features. The eyes are very large.

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