Ramu River Carved FIGHTING SPEAR w/ Ancestor Mask Face
Ramu River Carved FIGHTING SPEAR w/ Ancestor Mask Face
Origin: New Guinea, East Sepik Province, Lower Sepik, Ramu River (Provenance: The previous owner acquired it in the late 1960's from an Art Professor in Santa Cruz CA)
Period/Date: 1930-40's
Materials: Palm wood, rattan, bamboo, remnant pigments
Description: Note, this spear is cut in two complete pieces. Old example with aged and desiccated rattan with dry varied oxidized surface. It features a relief-carved mask-like ancestor face toward the tip. The bamboo spear tip is attached to the back spine via rattan above the mask. It has 17 inches of deeply carved clan patterns and symbols along the upper third of its shaft. Note: how the back end of the spear is made. It may look broken but it is not. To form a swelled "handgrip" for throwing it, the owner split and oversized piece of bamboo, fit it over the butt of the Palm wood and then tight lashed it together with rattan.
Dimensions: Overall Length 113" (289 cm), Width 2" (5.5 cm)