Bone Dagger
Iatmul, Sepik River Region, Papua New Guinea.
Early 20th Century


PROVENANCE: Collected on the La Korrigane Expedition, 1935.
EXHIBITION: Musée de l’Homme, France. Inventory No. D.39.3.1573.

Fashioned from the leg bones of a cassowary bird, daggers were supernaturally powerful objects that were used in male initiation ceremonies and as weapons in close combat. Carried on the person as decoration or for utilitarian purposes, bone daggers were ornately carved. This
example expertly uses the natural shape of the bone to create a three-dimensional face, built up by the use of a circular pattern.

Height: 8 1/4 in.
IN 10-6-15 / SOLD