Antique Carved Papua New Guinea Cowrie Eyed Chief Wearing A Lizard Head Dress

A old unique & quite rare hand carved Papua New Guinea ancestral native figure made around 1910. It has been intricately carved with motives that may of been replicas of a spiritual leaders & their ritual body tattooing. The unique reptile head dress on this chief statue has a very unique lizard head dress. The carving was stained with natural red clay & left to dry over several days.

The twine that's used to accessorise several rare shell species was hand made with dried coconut or palm leaf which was made by rolling hand pressures, then placed between shaved tree sticks to continue the thinning process. The eyes of the clan leader & the lizard are made of cowrie shell, they are also accessorised on his neck that shows he's the chief. The larger shells are a rare sea snails that were dived for by the islanders who lived along the muddy inlets & rivers.

The loin covering worn at the front of the figure is made from twine that was hand coloured using natural earth dyes. I have been intrigued by many authentic Papua New Guinea antiques over the years & I have to say that this fellow is in my top 3 hand carved collectables to date. Condition He has aged well but wood does dry out over decades that causes surface crazing or minuscule cracks. Best to keep him in a dry tepid spot.

The PNG natives started using "A Red Clay Soil Mix" when making their storage & cooking pots. They found that using this mixture on their statues for ascetic reasons, but then was found to give longevity to wooden hand carvings.

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