A fine Wapo /Era region spirit board (Gope); Gulf province Papua New Guinea. (C. 20th Century). Of classical form, the board with stylized head at top with eyes, nose, and mouth; The body heavily abstracted and made-up of a star-like confluence of lines forming the body. Painted in reddish pigments with white and black.Spirit boards of the Papuan Gulf were traditionally made in the Central and Eastern areas. They were routinely found in the Men’s houses of the Kerewa, the peoples of the Era River and Wapo Creek, Purari delta areas and from the Urama river as far east as the Elema people.The boards were believed to be the abode of an Imunu, or spirit entity that is represented on the front, though the connection of the image to the spirt is not really a clear one-to-one depiction and the iconography is far more complex in nature.In each locale the ethnic name was different – Titi Ebiha among the Kerewa, Gope among the peoples of the Era and Wapo areas. The Purari used both the terms Gope and Kwoi depending on their location while the Elema region called them Hohao. Stylistically the imagery also varied greatly, with the Kerewa often depicting entire figures while the neighboring peoples of the Era, Wapo and Purari reducing the forms to abstracted shapes.Many of the boards were cut from old war canoes, though in the Kerewa region many were simply made of flatter timber cut for the purpose. Some of the stylistic components of this board, particularly the shape of the face being created by arching lines creating the eyes may point to an origin near the Northeastern Kerewa.Acquired by Marc Seidler from George Craig, C. 1980, Field collected by Craig prior to 1966. The Gope Measures 39.25 inches tall x 8 inches wide.

fair, well weathered