Upper Karawari River Ewa Figure-Harry Franklin Collection-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
Pre-contact Upper Karawari River Inyai-Ewa Female Figure
Inyai-Ewa culture, Upper Karawari River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Harry A. Franklin, Beverly Hills, acquired by the 1960s
Sotheby’s New York, Pacific Art from the Collection of Harry A. Franklin, 13 May 2019, lot 54
Published: George R. Ellis, Oceanic Art: A Celebration of Form, San Diego, 2009, no. 12, p. 34
Exhibited: San Diego Museum of Art, Oceanic Art: A Celebration of Form, January 31, 2009–January 3, 2010
Pre-contact, stone-carved, 19th century or before
45” (114.2 cm) in height
The three-dimensional figures on two legs are probably the rarest form of Ewa figurative sculpture. According to Christian Kaufmann in his Korewori: Magic Art from the Rain Forest, this form of sculpture probably represents a figure from the creation period (p. 94). This one has a wonderful undulation to the torso and a powerful expression that still comes through after spending generations outside, under the overhanging limestone bluffs of the region.