10th Mar, 2023 10:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION - Fine Chinese Art / 中國藝術集珍 / Buddhism & Hinduism
654
A RARE AND MASSIVE CEREMONIAL SLIT DRUM, GARAMUT, SEPIK RIVER REGION OR LOWER RAMUT
Sold for €1,430
including Buyer's Premium
Published: Alex Bortignon, Social Rite and Personal Delight, Perth, 1980, page 66.
Papua New Guinea, Kadovar, 19th to early 20th century. The long, cylindrical drum well carved to the sides in low relief with geometric motifs and traditional designs, the details picked out in white, red, and green pigments, to either end in high relief with a figure known as Kandimbang, a protective spirit. The wood of an attractive grain and color.
Supported on two separately carved and similarly decorated mask-form feet. (3)
Provenance: The collection of the Christensen Fund, 1970s. The Western Australian Museum, gifted from the above, and deaccessioned in the early 1990s. A private collector in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. The Christensen Fund is a private, non-profit, and non-governmental organization founded in 1957 in San Francisco by Allen D. and Carmen M. Christensen that supports indigenous peoples and their rights. The Christensens shared a strong interest in non-Western art and were enthusiastic collectors. In 1972, the Christensen Fund began to acquire art collections across Africa and the Pacific rim, which were then loaned to museums to arrange for their study and exhibition in Australia, Europe, and the United States. After the death of Allen D. Christensen in 1989, the fund donated its art collections to museums including the Western Australian Museum.
Condition: Overall in good condition, commensurate with age. Showing expected age cracks, splits, losses, signs of weathering and erosion.
Weight: ca. 102 kg
Dimensions: Length 203 cm
Carved from a felled tree, the slit drum or garamut is the most important instrument in the Sepik River region. It is engraved and painted in different stages and kept in the men's ritual house for ceremonies such as male initiations.
The people of the Sepik area understand the drum's sound as its ‘voice.’ This voice can carry long distances to announce meetings, call individuals, issue warnings, and even contact neighboring villages. Communication occurs through a complex series of rhythms and tones beat out with a wooden stick by an initiated man. More than just an instrument, this drum is central to the lives of the entire community.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related slit drum, illustrated in K. A. Gourlay, Sound-producing instruments in traditional society: A study of esoteric instruments and their role in male-female relations, East Sepik District, 1975, p. 114, pl. 14. Compare also a related garamut, dated 20th century, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 93.12. Compare another related garamut with carved feet, 19th century, 139.7 cm, in the Brooklyn Museum, accession number 52.126a-c.
Published: Alex Bortignon, Social Rite and Personal Delight, Perth, 1980, page 66.
Papua New Guinea, Kadovar, 19th to early 20th century. The long, cylindrical drum well carved to the sides in low relief with geometric motifs and traditional designs, the details picked out in white, red, and green pigments, to either end in high relief with a figure known as Kandimbang, a protective spirit. The wood of an attractive grain and color.
Supported on two separately carved and similarly decorated mask-form feet. (3)
Provenance: The collection of the Christensen Fund, 1970s. The Western Australian Museum, gifted from the above, and deaccessioned in the early 1990s. A private collector in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. The Christensen Fund is a private, non-profit, and non-governmental organization founded in 1957 in San Francisco by Allen D. and Carmen M. Christensen that supports indigenous peoples and their rights. The Christensens shared a strong interest in non-Western art and were enthusiastic collectors. In 1972, the Christensen Fund began to acquire art collections across Africa and the Pacific rim, which were then loaned to museums to arrange for their study and exhibition in Australia, Europe, and the United States. After the death of Allen D. Christensen in 1989, the fund donated its art collections to museums including the Western Australian Museum.
Condition: Overall in good condition, commensurate with age. Showing expected age cracks, splits, losses, signs of weathering and erosion.
Weight: ca. 102 kg
Dimensions: Length 203 cm
Carved from a felled tree, the slit drum or garamut is the most important instrument in the Sepik River region. It is engraved and painted in different stages and kept in the men's ritual house for ceremonies such as male initiations.
The people of the Sepik area understand the drum's sound as its ‘voice.’ This voice can carry long distances to announce meetings, call individuals, issue warnings, and even contact neighboring villages. Communication occurs through a complex series of rhythms and tones beat out with a wooden stick by an initiated man. More than just an instrument, this drum is central to the lives of the entire community.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related slit drum, illustrated in K. A. Gourlay, Sound-producing instruments in traditional society: A study of esoteric instruments and their role in male-female relations, East Sepik District, 1975, p. 114, pl. 14. Compare also a related garamut, dated 20th century, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 93.12. Compare another related garamut with carved feet, 19th century, 139.7 cm, in the Brooklyn Museum, accession number 52.126a-c.
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