Tapak sago tongs, Wosera population. Abelam, Papua... Lot 41

Tapak sago tongs, Wosera population. Abelam, Papua New Guinea Wood with pigment enhancement. Rattan, ochre and red pigments. Height: 49 & 50cm 20th century Provenance: Collected by Bruce Lawes (between 1947 and 1965) Mr. & Mrs W Nicholson Collection (USA), acquired from the previous owner between 1969 and 1974 Exhibition: "We Shout To Make it Silent..." Plattsburgh State Art Museum. State University of New York, October 2003 / January 2004 Published and reproduced in Assayag Marc 2003. Page 19. n°39 & 40 The particularity and rarity of this pair of "Tapak", in addition to its exceptional state of preservation, comes from the fact that they are carved as Janus. Each figure is a "man-woman". Representing a couple of ancestors, seen from halfway up the body, arms at their sides, hands stylized on their stomachs. The figures, whose bust is scarified, wear the "Wagnen" or initiate's crest on their head. A hole in the ears was used to attach decorations. The finesse of the decoration, the delicacy of the gestures, the meticulous treatment of the facial features, and the rarity of this Janus typology among the corpus, distinguish this pair of Tapaks remarkably. In the past, these tongs were used to hold a sago palm leaf folded into a trough shape, which was used to extract the flour from the heart of the palm. Sago flour was a staple food in many parts of Papua New Guinea.