Mindja votive board - Lot 30

Mindja votive board Washkuk region, Papua New Guinea Carved and painted wood H. 154 cm Provenance: - Ex Dieter Willbrandt collection, Cologne - Ex Lempertz sale, Brussels, February 1, 2018, lot 304 This large mindja board was used in ceremonies celebrating the harvest of yams, one of the staple foods in New Guinea. Large yams were grown only by male initiates and were not intended for consumption. They were traded and used in ritual practices. Mindja boards represented tutelary figures responsible for the yams' healthy growth, and were linked to certain aquatic spirits. According to Douglas Newton in his book Crocodile and Cassowary, Religious Art of the Upper Sepik River, New Guinea, (Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1971), the motifs framing the central face could evoke the undulation of water. This object was also symbolic of the fertility and fecundity of the crops and, by extension, those of the clan. Condition report: Consistent with use and age, some scratches and pigment loss on the surface. The top of the sculpture has been broken off and glued back together (original piece).