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Tiki Central / Collecting Tiki / Share your Papua New Guinea pieces

Post #814049 by Prikli Pear on Thu, Oct 10, 2024 1:11 PM

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Up until now I didn't have much in the way of PNG art, but my wife scored at an estate sale in Canyon Lake this past weekend. She came away with three impressive pieces. These are tourist pieces (as confirmed by an appraiser), but I think they're great and serve my needs nicely.

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 (raffia?) was tied there in the past. It is my understanding these date from sometime after 1960. The house they came from was small and built in the 1970s. I'm guessing this mask (as well as the other pieces) is nearly 50 years old.

PNG1a PNG1c

PNG1b

PNG1d PNG1e