Specifications

• Height: 61,5 cm
• Material: wood, cassowary skin, bark
• Position:
• Gender:
• Indigenous name: wachu
• Price realised: € 1.000,- hp

Provenance

Private collection, The Netherlands, Arts _ Antiques Group, Amsterdam 17-12-2018, lot 366

Publications

Ref.: Kooijman, S.(1959), The Art of Lake Sentani, ill. 55 and 56; Hoogerbrugge, Jac. (1967), ‘Sentani-meer mythe en ornament’ in Kultuurpatronen 9

Additional information

Ceremonial drum in possession of heads of villages and priests. These drums of slight hourglass shape always need an embellishment in the central horizontal band, whereas upper and lower part could be undecorated. Without a central embellishment referring to a mythical hero Ondofolo, the drum was not charged. These instruments had a name and through the membrame the ancestor spoke. In very rare cases, the ancestor is carved on top of the handle as is the case here. (Hoogerbrugge o.c. 72-73)

Photo credits

AAG, Amsterdam