Boiken Pre-contact Figure-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
I hope a fair amount of you have read my “Art of the Boiken” book and can thus recognize this ancient little figure. It has the classic raised arms posture and a body emerging from the wood behind it. The face has a haunting fixed stare and there is an overall softness and total lack of sharp edges to the piece that characterize its pre-contact, stone-carved origin. The figure dates to the 19th century, is 23 7/8” (60.7 cm) in height.