Manam Island Food Pounder-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
The geographic and cultural attribution of this New Guinea food pounder is pretty straight forward with that bulging forehead and deep set eyes—as classic coastal Ramu River area, probably the striking volcanic Manam Island that juts prominently up right off the coast. The Janus spirit faces are very well done with wedge-shaped noses, pierced of course, and small deeply cut smiling mouths. It is hard not to love the sky-blue trade paint on the heads. The eyes and mouths are painted red. The piece has a good old surface and signs of wear. It dates to the early 20th century, is 19 3/8” (49.2 cm) in height.