Collection
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Title
Decorated male figure
mid 20th century
collected 1964
Artist
Awiyaana (Auyana) people
Papua New Guinea
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About
Constructed from an astounding array of natural materials, this figure is dressed in the everyday attire of a village man, including a woven belt with wooden 'bat-winged' codpiece, cowrieshell waistband, woven armbands, nose peg and feathered headbands.
Stan Moriarty described these figures as 'decoy figures' noting their placement inside men's houses and in gardens, with the aim to confound enemy assailants.
[entry from Exhibition Guide for 'Melanesian art: redux', 2018, cat no 38]
Details
Other Title
Male figure to guard men's house
Place where the work was made
Indona village
→
Okapa District
→
Eastern Highlands Province
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Papua New Guinea
Dates
mid 20th century
collected 1964
Materials used
wood, split rattan, sedge grass, seeds, pig tusks, cowrie shells (Cypraeidae), yellow orchid stem fibre (Dendrobium), plant fibre string, feathers, natural pigments
Dimensions
163.5 x 32.0 x 25.0 cm overall
Credit
Gift of Stan Moriarty 1977
Location
Not on display
Accession number
644.1979.a-i
Copyright
© Awiyaana (Auyana) people, under the endorsement of the Pacific Islands Museums Association's (PIMA) Code of Ethics
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Awiyaana (Auyana) people
Decorated male figure
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Exhibition history
The 'Moriarty' exhibition, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly, 01 Nov 1964–31 Dec 1964
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