Gope spirit board, Era River delta, Gulf Province, Papua New - Lot 62

Lot n° 62
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Estimation :
3000 - 3500 EUR
Gope spirit board, Era River delta, Gulf Province, Papua New - Lot 62
Gope spirit board, Era River delta, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea 19th - early 20th century Wood, pigments Written on back: "Gouri, Pai Inlet". H. 124 cm Provenance : Philip Goldman Collection, London, UK Franco Ignazio Castelli Collection, purchased from Philip Goldman in 1970 The Gope or votive board, also known as the spirit board, is a two-dimensional ritual sculpture, usually featuring figurative features from which often captivating expressions emerge. The schematized representation of the human figure in New Guinea was not intended to materialize and designate real men, but to embody figures of spirit-ancestors, supernatural powers. Inscribed on a bark support enhanced with ochre-red pigments on its surface, this Gope plate, characteristic of the Gulf of Papua, stands out for its remarkable dynamics, accentuated by the rhythmic arrangement of stylized body elements made up of wavy motifs enhanced with white pigments and highlighted by delicate black outlines. The expressive power of the eyes is accentuated by the circular shapes of the beaded pupils enhanced with black pigments. The linked nose and arch of the eyebrows encompass the upper part of the face, magnifying its contours, while the v-shaped mouth, highlighted in red, sketches a beautiful smile. Like the other gope boards, "it was kept in the clan alcove, in the longhouse, and represented the clan's specific ancestor" (Kaufmann in Peltier et Morin, 2006: 424).
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