North Coast Suspension Hook

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North Coast Suspension Hook

Galerie Meyer-Oceanic Art

Period 19/20th century.

Origin Melanesia

Medium Wood with a fine patination of age and usage.

Dimension 30 x 35.5 cm (11³/₄ x 14 inches)

A small very fine and elegant ceremonial suspension hook carved using the natural branches of a sapling. The classical elongated head representing an ancestor (perhaps wearing a bird-like mask) with the sharply pointed chin and cheek studs, shows tear-drop eyes and a long beak-like nose. The hook is pierced under the head behind the chin for suspension. The face is painted with lime and there are traces all over of a red ocher wash. The patina shows a thin accumulation of soot. Aitape coastline, North Coast, P.N.G.,

Period: 19/20th century.

Origin: Melanesia

Medium: Wood with a fine patination of age and usage.

Dimension: 30 x 35.5 cm (11³/₄ x 14 inches)

Provenance: Ex collection Leo Fleischmann, Sydney, inv. N° LF/I85. Acquired from Fleischmann personal collection circa 1987/1991.

Literature: For similar facial structure see the mask inv. N° E139 in the Queensland Museum collected by Wildonson before 1912, pub. Meyer, Oceanic Art, 1995, FIG. 350, p. 314.

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