Tabuya pirogue wheel, Aire Massim, Papua New Guinea Carved... Lot 36

Tabuya pirogue wheel, Aire Massim, Papua New Guinea Carved and openworked wood, traces of paint. Height: 24cm, length: 55cm XX ° century Provenance:. Collected by Chris Boylan on the Sepik River. Publication: Art Massim, Franck Marcelin, September 2016, page 28, n°8 The Massim cultural region is renowned for its maritime trade network called kula, a place for the exchange of symbolic vaygu'a objects - necklaces and bracelets, whose interest was, more than material possession, above all political and ceremonial. This system of circulating objects between the various archipelagos of the Massim area contributed to the social renown, prestige and power of individuals within their community. The consecrated craft for such an expedition is a masawa-type ceremonial pirogue, repainted beforehand in preparation for the voyage. Both ends of the pirogue are adorned with carved polychrome boards, called lagimu and tabuya respectively, "placed symmetrically, like mirror images of each other". Some of the graphic signs painted and engraved on these boards are specific to different communities, while other motifs are more universal and identifiable by all groups. These compositions are governed by a concern for order and balance, with Giancarlo Scoditti going so far as to assert that "the lagimu / tabuya, as a geometric and abstract scheme, is equivalent to an equiangular spiral inscribing a golden or isosceles triangle." (Scoditti Giancarlo M.G, "The 'Golden Section' on Kitawa Island", In Culture and History in the Pacific, 2021). Our tabuya features a finely incised decoration of interlacing and spirals evoking the undulating forms of the waves, and stylized bird heads, punctuated by openwork spaces. It has preserved ancient traces of paint, testifying to the high value attributed to this element of magical protection during Kula expeditions.