WARASEI YAM CULT FIGURE
Papua New Guinea
120 cm. high
Cf. Newton, D. et al., The Art of the Pacific Islands, Washington D.C., 1979, p.333, fig.22.72 for a similar figure in the Bruce Seaman collection; and Wardwell, A., Island Ancestors Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, Detroit, 1994, p.85, no.27, for another collected by Wayne Heathcote in 1965.
The figure was used in the third and final Warasei yam harvest ceremony, nogwi, which was attended by only the most powerful men of the community. After harvesting the yams were so powerful they could not be eaten until the full cycle of ceremonies was completed. Carvings representing two female spirits, Hameiyau and Sanggriyau, were set on a platform in front of the decorated basket of yams and the present figure represents one of these two spirits.
Provenienz
Todd Barlin, Sydney