Giant 20th C. Vanuatu Polychrome Fern Figure, ex-Museum

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 4, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-06-04 10:00:00 2020-06-04 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-5185
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• Lot Description
  Oceania, Melanesia, Vanuatu, ca. first half of the 20th century CE. An enormous standing ancestral figure carved from a solid section of the fibrous trunk of a fern tree. The massive figure balances with broad feet atop a large cylindrical base and has bent legs tracing up to wide hips and stylized genitalia, lengthy arms with hands meeting beneath the bulbous abdomen, a slender waist that expands to broad shoulders, and a stocky neck. The abstract, crescent-shaped head features a gargantuan nose with ovoid nostrils, an angular brow ridge that tapers to a point, a sloped chin, and a hemispherical top surmounted by a conical topknot. Vibrant traces of original green, red, and white pigment are visible atop the dark-brown mud-plaster ground and create wondrous stippled and linear motifs across the head and body. A fabulous figurative example from Vanuatu! Size: 16" L x 15.25" W x 85.75" H (40.6 cm x 38.7 cm x 217.8 cm); 88" H (223.5 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  On the island of Vanuatu, communities carve large figurative statues like this example to represent and honor their ancestors. The figures were often erected near male society houses for safekeeping as well as symbolic protection, and their use tied into celebratory occasions that marked an individual attaining a new rank or grade within the society. The overall size of the figure was determinant on the importance of the ancestor being venerated, and the size of the head itself was indicative of the figure's power, or "mana."
  
  For another example of a fern figure, please see The MAS ("Museum aan de Stroom," or "Museum by the River"), Antwerp, Belgium, ID number AE. 1972.0003.0001: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/tree-fern-sculpture-used-in-rites-of-passage-by-the-suque-community/pwFC8iYEDofYMQ
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-DeYoung Museum, acquisition number 1984.34; ex-Merrin Gallery, New York, New York, USA (was donated for $90,000 to the DeYoung Museum in 1984)
  
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  #148230

  Condition

  Minor chips to base, limbs, body, and head, with nicks and fading to original pigmentation, and light encrustations, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits and great traces of original pigment throughout.
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