Sagaie Kanak population, North Island New- Caledonia Wood,... Lot 89

Sagaie Kanak population, North Island New- Caledonia Wood, black pigment Height: 1.84 m In 1929, Fritz Sarasin, in Etnologie der Neu- Caledonier und Loyalty-Insulaner, documented these assegais, pointing out that these faces, freely worked into the shaft, with facial elements accentuated in a play of planes, were linked to ancestral cults. Objects of prestige rather than combat weapons, these elaborate assegais were worn and exhibited during grand parades, or used as gifts in customary exchanges. On the shaft, with its beautiful variations in brown and mahogany patinas, is carved in high relief and framed by incised motifs, a small, finely modeled human head, with features characteristic of Kanak statuary, the forehead projected forward, the nose curved. The finesse of the details is matched by the sculptural skill.