Cooking Pot
Boiken, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th c
Provenance: John and Marcia Friede, Rye, NY.
Pottery traditions proliferate in the northern mountainous regions of Papua New Guinea. This cooking pot, from the Boiken, is a fantastic example. The globular pot exhibits an indented neck and flared lip, a common characteristic of Boiken cooking and storage pots. The pot is not decorated except for a single human face, most likely representing an ancestral spirit. The face is striking; just the eyes, nose, mouth, and a raised line is carved to delineate the face from the body of the pot. Vessels are made using the coil technique and are then shaped by chip-carving when the surface is not quite dry. This leaves the bowls beautifully texturized, visible on this particular example. The pot is very old, a rare find.
A similar example is published: Patricia May and Margaret Tuckson. 1982. “Traditional Pottery of Papua New Guinea”. p. 257, f. 9.84.
Cooking Pot
Boiken, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th c
Provenance: John and Marcia Friede, Rye, NY.
Pottery traditions proliferate in the northern mountainous regions of Papua New Guinea. This cooking pot, from the Boiken, is a fantastic example. The globular pot exhibits an indented neck and flared lip, a common characteristic of Boiken cooking and storage pots. The pot is not decorated except for a single human face, most likely representing an ancestral spirit. The face is striking; just the eyes, nose, mouth, and a raised line is carved to delineate the face from the body of the pot. Vessels are made using the coil technique and are then shaped by chip-carving when the surface is not quite dry. This leaves the bowls beautifully texturized, visible on this particular example. The pot is very old, a rare find.
A similar example is published: Patricia May and Margaret Tuckson. 1982. “Traditional Pottery of Papua New Guinea”. p. 257, f. 9.84.