Oceania, Papua New Guinea, East Sepik Province, Ramu River region, ca. 1930 to 1940 CE. A hand-carved wooden drum with a slender, hourglass-shaped body called a kundu. The kundu consists of two bell-shaped halves connected via a central barrel and with an integral handle bearing abstract avian head terminals. Incised on each half of the drum are two highly abstract anthropomorphic faces with dramatically slanted eyes, narrow noses, and curved mouths. Red pigment colors much of the drum's exterior surfaces, while white pigment accentuates each of the intricate faces. Size: 5.75" W x 19.25" H (14.6 cm x 48.9 cm)
Kundu drums are made throughout Papua New Guinea, from a variety of local woods, and come in many forms - some dramatically carved like this one, others painted in bright colors, and they are made through a complex process of hand-carving and burning that has been repeated for centuries. When in use, wax, honey, or coal tar is sometimes put onto the skin to alter the drum's sound.
Provenance: private Newport Beach, California, USA collection; ex-private Boylan collection
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#135680
Condition
Original drum heads missing as shown. Chips to lateral stringing element on one side of one half, with a couple stable hairline fissures, and abrasions and fading to pigment, otherwise intact and very good. Nice remains of pigment throughout.