Three Lake Sentani Dance Artifacts-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
Here are three old Lake Sentani figurative objects. On the left is a cooking utensil used to stir sago. The stirrer has a nice ancestral face carved at the top of the handle and an ancient worn and glossy patina on the top portion and a well-used, somewhat rawer patina on the lower, business-end. This piece comes from the Fortess Family collection of Hawaii, dates to the early 20th century is 29” (73 cm) in height and sells for $1800. In the middle is a dance staff collected during WWII with a large, classic Sentani figure carved in a dense hardwood. The piece has good age and wear from years of traditional use. The staff is 39” (98.6 cm) in height and sells for $6500. On the right is an old dance staff with a forward leaning figure having a rounded domed head, almond-shaped eyes, large ears and clearly defined breasts. The staff has a nice curve to it, feels good in the hand and obviously has had a substantial time in the field. It dates to the early 20th century, is 31" (91.6 cm) overall with the figure being 6 3/4" (17.2 cm) in height. It sells for $2,400.