Pilon, East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea Wood... Lot 21

Pilon, East Sepik Province Papua New Guinea Wood with smoke patina Height: 44.5 cm Diameter: 4.2 cm Provenance: Jean-Paul Agogue Collection, Paris Jean-Paul Agogue Collection, Paris Private collection, Marseille This Sepik pestle features an intriguing iconography. The elegantly shaped handle, adorned with delicate geometric motifs and narrowed in the middle for a comfortable grip, features a bird's head frozen in a majestic posture at the top, defying the sky with its pointed, outstretched beak. The naturalistic representation of the bird is rendered by the relief of the plumage, finely engraved with undulating, serrated motifs, and by the care given to anatomical details such as the nostrils, ears and pupil of the eyes. The presence of a solemn anthropomorphic face, carved in the round at the animal's neck, seems to underline the ancestral belief in a spiritual connection between Man and Animal, where each entity would occupy a significant place in the balance of the universe. This fusion is symbolized here by the harmonious cohabitation of these two beings on the same support.