Title
Samban (suspension hook)
early 20th century
collected 1956
Artist
-
Details
- Place where the work was made
-
Chambri Lake
→
Middle Sepik River
→
East Sepik Province
→
Papua New Guinea
- Cultural origin
- Iatmul people
- Dates
- early 20th century
collected 1956 - Media category
- Sculpture
- Materials used
- wood, white pigment
- Dimensions
- 59.0 x 28.7 x 9.4 cm
- Credit
- Purchased 1976
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 163.1976
- Copyright
- © Iatmul people, under the endorsement of the Pacific Islands Museums Association's (PIMA) Code of Ethics
- Artist information
-
Iatmul people
Works in the collection
- Share
-
-
About
'Samban' (suspension hooks) are carved by men throughout the Sepik region and are used to suspend nets or trays filled with food, protecting contents from water and vermin. Objects such as weapons, musical instruments and ancestral human skulls or victims of headhunting were also hung on samban in the past.
Found in all dwelling houses, the most heavily decorated 'samban' held an important place in the 'geko', or men's ceremonial house. These sacred objects were thought to embody clanspecific, ancestral 'waken' spirits, which could be animated when offerings were made. Double-headed 'samban' such as this, with its elongated heads with bird-like beaks, have been likened to 'mai' masks, which appear as brother-sister pairs during Iatmul ritual performances.
[entry from Exhibition Guide for 'Melanesian art: redux', 2018, cat no 27]
-
Places
Where the work was made
Chambri Lake
-
Exhibition history
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Melanesian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Apr 1966–22 May 1966
Melanesian art: redux, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Nov 2018–17 Feb 2019
-
Bibliography
Referenced in 1 publication
-
Tony Tuckson, Melanesian art, Sydney, 1966, 12. cat.no. 132; 'Hook. Double headed, beak type. Wood carved and engraved, filled with white on black, 23h, Sepik River. Coll: S.G. Moriarty. M348'
-
