#69 • Malangan Ancestral Wood Carving Figure Statue

Part of Professor’s Collection Part One: Pacific & Pre-Columbian Artifacts (live auction by Blue Box Auction Gallery)

High bid $500.00

Status: Sold

Estimated Value: $ 100-400 Origin: New Ireland, Papua New Guinea  Dimensions: 5x19.5in Condition: There are no visible chips or scratches, some paint is worn away. Additional Information: A colorful painted hand carved sculpture of an ancestor spirit. The sculpture shows a figure in a seated position with a snake wrapping around its body and going through the nose. The piece is placed on a metal stand. Malangan's are carved and paraded through the New Ireland villages during mortuary and funerary ceremonies. Apart from being part of funerary rites, New Ireland malangan's celebrate and pay tribute to the recently deceased and past ancestors. These highly imaginative carvings are at the apex of Oceanic collectibles. Many of these carvings are returned to the forest or jungle to be left to rot and sustain future forest growth.