Polychrome drum, called "eme", West Papua (New Guinea). - Lot 337

Polychrome drum, called "eme", West Papua (New Guinea). Classic hourglass-shaped drum. With the exception of the handle in the center, the shaft is entirely decorated with herringbone motifs, single or double, positioned in registers punctuated by lines running around the shaft. An anthropomorphic motif also decorates the shaft; the figure is reduced to the upper and lower limbs on a circle, probably a belly. The entire shaft is highlighted with ochre and lime. The decoration on this drum is similar to the colored ornamentation used on war horns ("fu", see for example The MET (New York), no. 1978.412.1022 or Wereldmuseum (Leiden, Netherlands), RV-3790-387). The handle is decorated with a frieze of bird heads (hornbill?), beaks open. Below them is a C-shaped motif with curved ends, resembling "bipane" nose ornaments (see, for example, Musée de Nouvelle-Calédonie (Nouméa), MNC 2004.4.3). The completely preserved skin, cut from the skin of a varan (varanus salvadorii or varanus indicus?), is tightened with a bamboo splint ligature. Asmat, West Papua (New Guinea). Dimensions: 71 cm high, 13 cm diameter. Estimated dating: Middle to last third of the 20th century Provenance : - Ex French private collection - Purchased by Grégory Ronseaux from above Selective bibliography: * On Asmat drums: - Jacques HOOGERBRUGGE & Simon KOOIJMAN, 70 jaar Asmat houtsnijkunst / 70 tahun seni pahat Asmat / 70 Years of Asmat Woodcarving, Volkenkundig Museum " Justinius van Nassau ", Breda, 1979 ; fig. 11 - Musée Territorial de Nouvelle-Calédonie, L'art Asmat, Musée Territoire de Nouvelle-Calédonie, 1999; pp. 44 - MUDEC (Milano, Italy), Eravamo cacciatori di teste. Riti, vita e arte delle popolazioni Asmat, 2018, MUDEC; p. 51 & pp. 1115-119 - Michael C. ROCKFELLER, 1967, The Asmat. Michael C. Rockfeller expeditions, Museum of Primitive Art, pp. 203-220 - Ignatius SUHARNO, Ukiran-Ukiran Kayu Irian Jaya: The Art of Woodcarving in Irian Jaya, Jakarta: Regional Government of Irian Jaya, and United Nations Development Programme, 1977 ; fig. 58-60. * 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. Corpus for comparison : - Lot 48, Marie-Saint Germain, Paris - June 21, 2021