Papua New Guinea, 19^th to early 20^th century. The long snout of the crocodile gracefully curved at the top and tapering towards the round nose, the bulging eyes protruding upward, the menacing teeth boldly rendered. The base of the head with a single aperture for mounting.

Provenance: From the collection of Jean-Luc Cortes and thence by descent in the family. Jean-Luc Cortes (d. 2021) was a collector, self-taught researcher, and dealer of Himalayan art, one of the first experts on Nepalese statuary. Cortes became an expert through his extensive travels throughout the region during which he collected and researched the local art and its history. As one of the few dealers and collectors to go into the field, he undertook expeditions into the isolated regions of northwest Nepal near the Karnali basin. He organized exhibitions of Nepalese sculpture in Paris and contributed to several catalogs and books, including La Statuaire Primitive de l'Ouest du Népal published in 2011.
Condition: Good condition with wear, signs of weathering and erosion, expected age cracks and water damage, nicks, chips, and losses, presenting exceptionally well. The wood with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina.

Weight: 2,224 g
Dimensions: Length 55 cm

Crocodiles play a central role in the art and culture of the Iatmul people. According to one Iatmul creation account, an ancestral crocodile was responsible for forming the land. In the beginning, the earth was covered by a primordial ocean, into whose depths the crocodile dived. Reaching the bottom, it brought up on its back a load of mud, which became an island when it surfaced. From that island, the land grew and hardened, but it continues to rest on the back of the ancestral crocodile, which occasionally moves, causing earthquakes. Both now and in the past, the prows of most sizeable canoes are carved, as here, in the form of a crocodile. The scale of the present work indicates that it probably adorned a large war canoe, capable of holding from fifteen to twenty-five men. These large canoes, hollowed from a single massive log, were also used for trading and fishing expeditions. Although canoes are no longer used in warfare, contemporary Iatmul carvers continue to make large examples for use in trade and general transportation.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Iatmul crocodile canoe prow, 99.1 cm long, dated 20^th century, in the Seattle Art Museum, accession number 81.17.1466. Compare a related canoe prow from the Iatmul people in the form a crocodile, dated 19^th to early 20^th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1978.412.705. Compare a Sepik River dugout canoe of the Iatmul people with crocodile head prow, dated 1960s, in the Australian National Maritime Museum, object number 00032515.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 22 November 2017, lot 2
Estimate: EUR 3,000 or approx. EUR 3,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A canoe prow figure in the shape of a crocodile
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and style.