Pestle from a betel nut mortar, Northern Massim... Lot 140
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Pestle from a betel nut mortar, Northern Massim area
Papua New Guinea
Ebony wood
19th century
Height: 23.1 cm
Provenance: Barbara Perry Collection, Australia
Barbara Perry Collection, Australia
Harry Beran Collection, England (HB113)
Collection John & Marcia Friede.Rye, New York, USA Betel nut chewing is an ancient tradition in the Massim region, requiring special preparation and the use of traditional tools: mortar and pestle. The mortar is generally made of hard wood and is designed to withstand the forces required to crush the betel nuts. The pestle is a solid, heavy piece used to crush the ingredients in the mortar.
This mortar pestle consists of a straight handle, flaring at the end, topped by a female bust carved in the round. The effigy's solemn stance, with closed eyes and arms folded at right angles under the chest, reinforces the vertical hieraticism of the composition.
Carved in ebony wood with deep brown tones, our object has a lighter patina in places on the handle, testifying to its repeated use.
Barbara Perry was a lifelong collector of Papua New Guinean art.
Guinea. Her chance encounter with this art occurred in 1964, inspired by stories and objects collected in the region by a friend returning from a trip. Her husband Ron Perry decided to set off on an expedition to the Highlands and Sepik, bringing back objects that launched the couple's artifact business. Barbara first visited Papua New Guinea four years later, exploring alongside Ron from Madang to Wewak, Angoram, up the Sepik River to Ambunti. After their divorce in the late 1970s, she built up a large collection of Papua New Guinean and Aboriginal art in Abbotsford, then in Melbourne.
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