Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Sepik River region, ca. early 20th century CE. A fascinating, hand-carved, transformative wooden totemic figure, depicting a pregnant woman in sexual congress with a crocodile. The woman has a dramatic, mask-like face, relatively large for her body, painted with swirling red and black tattoos; her eyes are shells and she has a headdress studded with dozens of inlaid shells, both cowrie and spiral-shaped. Cassowary feathers project from the top of the headdress. Below it, she wears earrings made of shell and woven rattan; she also has an ornament of woven rattan through her nose. Her body is similarly heavily decorated, with incised lines that seem to indicate scarification and round raised bracelets and anklets, each with multiple inlaid cowrie shells. A necklace, raised from her chest and carved from wood, hangs between her breasts; her stomach is distended, indicating pregnancy. She wears a rattan skirt. Size: 11" L x 9.25" W x 27.2" H (27.9 cm x 23.5 cm x 69.1 cm); 28" H (71.1 cm) on included custom stand (not including feathers).

Behind her, facing away from her, is a crocodile, its skin heavily incised in similar patterns to those on the woman's body, giving it a scaly texture that her scars are meant to imitate. The crocodile has cowrie shell eyes that parallel hers. His tail curves upward, wrapped near its tip with a similar ornament to her bracelets and anklets, also studded with shells, and joins her body below her skirt. Beyond the obvious, what is the meaning of this figure?

Sex and gender in the Sepik region were famously and controversially described to the West by Margaret Mead; subsequent research has refuted and, more recently, built upon her ethnographic descriptions and interpretations. The crocodile - one of the most striking animals in this ecologically diverse area - is thought of as masculine because it is long in shape, and the word for the animal, "mu," is masculine in the Manambu language, one of the many spoken in Sepik. The crocodile is also an important symbol for men initiates entering Sepik adult society. Some men in the society have their skin cut to produce scars that resemble the skin of the animal. However, pregnant women are sometimes compared to crocodiles, because their swollen bellies are similar to those of the animals (and snakes) who have just swallowed large prey. Knowing all of this, it seems likely that the woman and crocodile depicted here are totems for fertility.

Provenance: ex private Tucson, Arizona, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#129968

Nice patina from age and handling on surface, especially on the shells. Excellent remaining pigment. The top of the woman's head, the crocodile tail, and the woman's legs have been repaired. Small losses and chips from wood surface commensurate with age. Cassowary feathers have some losses, but many are still present. Very nice preservation of details.