Pre-contact Boiken Figure-Lynda Cunningham-New Guinea Oceanic Art
As many of you know I love Boiken figurative sculpture. There is just an archaic rawness to it that runs the gamut from aggressively wild to calm and serene—as with this present figure. The classic hocker pose is elongated and stretched out with light-painted colors. While primarily white there are tiny traces of saturated orange and blue in the eyes and mouth. As one can see from the nature of the adze marks this is a pre-contact, stone-carved example. It comes from the estate of Lynda Cunningham, dates to the late 19th century, is 30” (76.2 cm) in height.