Lot 127 Dα

AN ASMAT SOULSHIP
Northwest Asmat region, Papua, Indonesia

Wuramon, the long slender canoe with bottomless hull, figure prow and containing five spirit passengers about a central turtle (mbu), a skull at the stern, carved scrolls about the rim of the canoe, painted red, white and black and embellished with cassowary feathers and Job’s tears.

Wuramon are used in a ceremony in front of the men’s house to promise vengeance for the souls of the dead. They also have an important function in inititation ceremonies. After seclusion boys crawl across the wuramon on their bellies and their bodies are then cut with scarification marks. Wuramon are found only amongst the northwest Asmat.
427 cm. long