Cave Figure, aripa
Ewa culture, Upper Karawari River region, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
19th c or before
Provenance: Acquired from Philippe Guimiot in the 1980’s. Private collection, Brussels
This pre-contact, stone carved cave aripa has qualities that place it within the corpus of figures that are considered the most archaic in style, with a rough-carved surface from stone adzing combined with a precise, deeply cut expression still powerful after more than a century of exposure under limestone cliffs. Aripa were spiritual aids for hunting and warfare. Senior clan members would visit the caves prior to these endeavors to petition the ancestral spirits for guidance and protection.
Cave Figure, aripa
Ewa culture, Upper Karawari River region, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
19th c or before
Provenance: Acquired from Philippe Guimiot in the 1980’s. Private collection, Brussels
This pre-contact, stone carved cave aripa has qualities that place it within the corpus of figures that are considered the most archaic in style, with a rough-carved surface from stone adzing combined with a precise, deeply cut expression still powerful after more than a century of exposure under limestone cliffs. Aripa were spiritual aids for hunting and warfare. Senior clan members would visit the caves prior to these endeavors to petition the ancestral spirits for guidance and protection.
