Tami Island Bowl-Wartburg Theological Seminary-Oceanic Art
Tami Island bowls are classics of Oceanic art. This is a fine ancient late 19th century or earlier example formerly in the collection of the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque Iowa. I published this one in my catalog “Between the Known and Unknown: New Guinea Art from Astrolabe Bay to Morobe” 2016, no. 3. The bowl has a great spirit face on one end with pierced nasal septum. What is hard to see on these photos is the unusual but natural depression in the wood toward the backside indicating the artist’s acceptance of this irregularity in the wood even when composing a very precise and classic composition. The bowl is 28” (73 cm) in length.