Food Pestle - Lot 20

Food Pestle Sissano Lagoon, Warapu Village, Aitape area, North Sepik, Papua New Guinea Carved wood H. 34.5 cm Provenance : - Collected in situ by Michael Hamson in 1995 - Ex John & Marcia Friede collection, Jolika collection, Rye, USA - Ex Wayne Heathcote collection, presented at Parcours des Mondes 2019 As Michael Hamson (personal communication, November 2019), who collected this food pestle on site in 1995, points out, the North Sepik coast from which this sculpture comes is an isolated region that has remained little known and studied. Few objects had been collected there before the deadly tsunami of 1998, which wiped out the last remaining vestiges of material culture. The top of this pestle, with its beautiful patina of use, features a human face imbued with poetry and sensitivity. The long neck is adorned with engraved motifs. Condition report: Consistent with use and age, a few old surface cracks, discoloration of the wood at the base of the pestle.