garra or gra Wood, pigments height 36 1/2in (92.7cm) PROVENANCE Philip Goldman Collection, London Marcia and John Friede Collection, New York Cf. Gathercole, et. al. The Art of the Pacific Islands, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979, fig 22.63 for a very similar garra mask in the collection of Bruce Seaman, Tahiti (see image from text). 'The two garra (nos. 22.62,63) were used at an initiation ceremony...As with some carvings of the Biwat...they are held between dancer's legs. The style is a component of the range of the "opposed-hook" complex. The objects as a whole probably represent water spirits, though the hooks are said to represent birds' beaks and catfish antennae.' (ibid.: p 328) Cf. Newton, Douglas, Crocodile and Cassowary: Religious Art of the Upper Sepik River, New Guinea, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1971, fig. 34 and 35. Almost certainly stone-carved in an overall flat oval form with a naturalistic hornbill's head at the top above a set of protruding circular eyes and a ring with opposed set of hooks possibly representing the nose and set of jaws; fine encrusted patina with traces of red and white pigment.
garra or gra Wood, pigments height 36 1/2in (92.7cm) PROVENANCE Philip Goldman Collection, London Marcia and John Friede Collection, New York Cf. Gathercole, et. al. The Art of the Pacific Islands, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979, fig 22.63 for a very similar garra mask in the collection of Bruce Seaman, Tahiti (see image from text). 'The two garra (nos. 22.62,63) were used at an initiation ceremony...As with some carvings of the Biwat...they are held between dancer's legs. The style is a component of the range of the "opposed-hook" complex. The objects as a whole probably represent water spirits, though the hooks are said to represent birds' beaks and catfish antennae.' (ibid.: p 328) Cf. Newton, Douglas, Crocodile and Cassowary: Religious Art of the Upper Sepik River, New Guinea, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1971, fig. 34 and 35. Almost certainly stone-carved in an overall flat oval form with a naturalistic hornbill's head at the top above a set of protruding circular eyes and a ring with opposed set of hooks possibly representing the nose and set of jaws; fine encrusted patina with traces of red and white pigment.
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.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
