Figural Suspension Hook

Middle Sepik region, Papua New Guinea, 2nd quar. 20th c.

Carved wood, shell

32” h x 12” w (w/ base, 35” cm) (81.28 x 30.48 [w/ base, 88.9 cm])

Price: $3,500

These hooks were used to hang bilum bags filled with foodstuffs and other perishable objects. Cf. Sotheby’s (2018). On the back there is an old collection label reading “72–5–4.”

 
 

REFERENCES

Bella, Carlo, ed. Pace Primitive: Fall 2007: A Collection of African Figures. New York: Pace

Primitive, 2007.

Collection Elizabeth Pryce - L’Art de vivre en Océanie, Wednesday 10 October 2018,

Sotheby’s (Paris, 2018), lot 58.

Important Tribal Art, Tuesday 14 November 1995, Sotheby’s (New York, 1995), lot 124.

Important Tribal Art, Tuesday 20 November 1990, Sotheby’s (New York, 1990), lot 3.

Kelm, Heinz. Kunst Von Sepik. Vol. 3. 3 vols. Berlin: Museum fur Volkerkunde, 1966, fig. 23.