Polychrome drum, called "kundu", Papua New Guinea. - Lot 325

Polychrome drum, called "kundu", Papua New Guinea. A monoxyl wooden piece with elegant lines, adopting the hourglass shape characteristic of Papuan drums, this kundu features several registers of ornamentation. Several small broken lines projecting from the sides, outlined in yellow and present in odd numbers, punctuate the whole in a play of rupture and continuity. The widest parts of the shaft seem to fit into a narrower part, over which run curvilinear incisions, specific to the artistic style of the Lower Sepik. At the center of the shaft, a succession of superimposed registers made up of broken and straight lines running around the drum add another decorative rhythm to the whole. The grip of the handle extends into a ridge over two-thirds of the shaft and shows a patina of use. It is adorned at the ends with two stylized zoo-anthropomorphic faces (probably spirits): the nose is elongated to resemble a beak. This hybrid nose narrows the stylistic zone of the Lower Sepik to its coastal part, from the Murik Lakes to the mouths of the Sepik and Ramu rivers, and includes Manam Island, which may be the original home of this drum. The interlocking pattern on the drumhead evokes the jaws of a crocodile, evoking the spiritual symbolism of Heaven and Earth. This symbolism is echoed in the resonance boxes, open and closed (although the skin is missing here), with the handle acting as a link between the two cosmological elements. In addition to its age and the harmony of its volumes and decorations, this kundu is also distinguished from its counterparts by its polychromy: yellow, red and blue-green (revealing its nuances under light). Painted kundus are unusual, and this piece is all the more singular for its colors: yellow and blue-green are rare in the Sepik chromatic repertoire. Age cracks and crazing, missing. Papuans from the Lower Sepik region, coastal zone (Manam? Island), Eastern Sepik Province (Papua New Guinea). On base. Dimensions: 44.2 cm long, 11 cm in diameter. Estimated dating: Beginning to first half of 20th century Provenance : - Acquired by Georges Alliou - by descent Selective bibliography: * On Lower Sepik styles - A.J.P. MEYER, Oceanian Art, Könemann, Cologne, 1995 ; pp. 178-197 (including fig. 206,p. 197) * On drums in Papua - Philippe PELTIER (dir), Ombres de Nouvelle-Guinée. Arts de la grande île d'Océanie dans les collections Barbier-Mueller, Somogy, Paris, 2006; pp. 322-351 - Didier ZANETTE, 100 Kundu papous, DZ Galerie, Nouméa, 2008 Corpus for comparison : - Lot 1213, Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury - Sept. 18, 2019 - Lot 19, Bonhams, San Francisco - Feb 10, 2013 - Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac (Paris), 72.1963.6.18