19th Century Massim Figure-Valentine Museum-Oceanic Art
Massim Figure, Ex. Valentine Museum
Massim area, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
Acquired in 1901 by Ellie Bosher in Australia
Donated to the Valentine Museum by Bosher in 1904 (V04.06.02)
Deaccessioned by the Valentine Museum in 2021
Late 19th century
19 ¾” (50.1 cm) in height
This figure definitely belongs to a small corpus of late 19th century Massim figures potentially carved by the same hand. Older, authentic freestanding human figures are exceedingly rare within the Massim culture. Of the few with recorded functions, they all had to do with protective magic.
Published in "OCEANIC ART: PROVENANCE AND HISTORY" edited by Michael Hamson, pages 66/67, item 11.