Lot: 15

87e vente aux enchères Tribal Art

Crâne surmodelé "kus"

Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, Asmat

Provenance Taille Prix d’appel / Prix d'Estimation
H: 20 cm Cet objet n’est plus disponible.

wood, matt patina, dominated by a big mouth with blackened teeth, min. dam., cracks, slight traces of abrasion, base.
When a trophy skull was lost or destroyed, a wooden head called "kus" was carved to replace it. In later years after head-hunting was banned by the authorities, wooden heads were used at initiation ceremonies in place of real and "freshly hunted" ones.


Konrad, Gunter & Ursula, u.a., Asmat, Glashütten 1981, p. 104