Lake Sentani Wooden Plate-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Tribal Art
The art of Lake Sentani is justifiably renowned with the rare figure sculpture at the pinnacle of desirability in Oceanic art. Yet for me, the best Sentani art are the shallow oval wood dishes with carved undersides. Often the allover designs are superb examples of graphic art. The present example has a mesmerizing composition of spiral ovals that morph into undulating ripples that radiate out in waves as when a pebble is dropped into water. The clarity of this complex design is heightened by the white lime-filled shallow areas contrasted against the dark relief-carved patterns. This plate was collected by the American Army officer Woodruff Bryne in 1944, dates to the early 20th century or before and is 26 3/8” (67 cm) in length.