Vintage Papua New Guinea Gope Board With Finial
With its elliptical form, spirit or gope boards from Papua New Guinea are symbols of a warrior's acts of bravery. Many were made from a conquered enemy's canoe and the skull of the enemy was displayed on the finial of some boards such as this unique one. Gope boards held particular significance as they were thought to transfer the previous owner's strength to the victor. Gopes also served several other functions including being the medium through which the elders received instructions from the spirits such as when to go to war, plant the gardens, go on a trading expedition etc. The spirit's face was usually painted on the front of the board using black from charcoal, red from clay or white from clay or powdered lime color.
Size: 62.5" L x 10.75" W x. Color: Brown with white markings Place of Origin: Papua New Guinea. We reserve the right to request an adjustment if the price is greater than what was estimated. The item "VINTAGE PAPUA NEW GUINEA GOPE BOARD WITH FINIAL" is in sale since Wednesday, February 5, 2020. This item is in the category "Antiques\Ethnographic\Pacific Islands & Oceania".
The seller is "globalattic75" and is located in Chicago, Illinois. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Antigua and barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Turks and caicos islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman islands, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macao, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Viet nam, Uruguay, Montserrat, Ukraine.
- Material: Wood
- Original/Reproduction: Original
- Color: Brown