Lot: 26

75th tribal art auction

Bowl "jifoi"

Papua New Guinea, Asmat

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
collected in situ, Asmat (before 1970)
Cenderawashi Museum Jayapura, West Papua (1985)
L: 34.6 inch 2000 EUR
plus 27 % commission, VAT, transport and insurance

light wood, remains of white and orange pigment, bowl corpus with characteristic decor on the outside ("bipane" motif), contours in raised struts, a big male figure on one end of the bowl, slightly dam. (mouth), minor missing parts (bowl tip, right foot), rest. (nose tip);
as the bowl is in the shape of a small canoe, this "jifoi" probably was used as paint cup. When not in use, bowls were placed upside down on a rack above the owners sleeping place, so that the depicted ancestor remained in contact with him.


Dehaene, Frederic (ed.), Asmat Art, The van der Hoeven Collection, Brussels o.J.