Malagan or kobo-kobor lintel New Ireland, Bismarck... Lot 32

Malagan or kobo-kobor lintel New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia 19th/20th century, German colonial period Wood, pigments, resin and turbo-marmoratus opercula L. 214 cm Minor lacunae, rubbing and wear from age and use Malagn or kobo-kobor, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia L. 84 ¼ in Provenance: - Galerie Alexis Brimaud, Paris Large Malagan frieze, or kobo-kobor, from an initiation house. It features an anthropomorphic figure surrounded on either side by stylized composite animals (birds, lobsters, sharks, etc.). The figure wears a kapkap on his chest and holds snakes in his teeth. These friezes, or lintels, are generally carved symmetrically, extending outwards from a central focal point.