Canoe wheel, Wakde and Yamma lakes area Yamma,... Lot 115

Canoe wheel, Wakde and Yamma lakes area Yamma, Humboldt Bay West Papua Carved wood Length: 47 cm Provenance: Cornette de Saint Cyr, PARIS - Cornette de Saint Cyr, PARIS - FEBRUARY 11. 2002 Lot 126 - Norbert Letourneur Collection In most Pacific archipelagos, the figure of the bird is associated with boats and is used to decorate pirogues. Linked to the cult of the spirits of the sea, representations of birds are used in various rituals linked to fishing and travel, testifying to the value and magical effectiveness of these ornaments. Because of their strategic position at the front of the pirogues, the prows are given special treatment and feature a sometimes complex iconography charged with great symbolic power. This bow, combining human figures and zoomorphic representations, consists of a rectangular end, the lower part of which was attached to the pirogue, the upper part being decorated with a stylized crocodile figure. The sculptural dynamic is reflected in the movement of the round head with its bulging eyes, projected horizontally into space, whose tense effect is accentuated by the posture of the bird sculpted in the round on the skull, its beak stretched skywards.