Lot 133 Rα

Cf. Newton, D., Crocodile and Cassowary, New York, 1971, p.191, fig.167, for a similar figure in the Metropolitan Museum collected by Father Heinemans of the Catholic Mission, Wewak, in 1967.

The large mindja carvings for the mindja-ma ceremonies associated with the great annual cycle of rituals revolving around the yam harvest were made and shown in pairs. The Kwoma figures are much larger than those of their Nukumu neighbours. Each Kwoma clan had its pair which were shown in rotation from year to year.