Adventurer, Academic, Industrialist: Louis Pierre Ledoux 1936 New Guinea Expedition
In early 1936, on recommendation by American anthropologist Margaret Mead, Louis Pierre Ledoux, recent Harvard University graduate, headed to the lower eastern Sepik River of Papua New Guinea to study the Murik people.
The results of his self-funded expedition is an extraordinary collection of hundreds of artifacts, photographs, manuscripts, diaries, and letters left untouched for 85 years.
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LOT 213:
Hook Figure, Sepik River
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Sold for: $1,500
Start price:
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1,500
Estimated price :
$3,000 - $5,000
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Hook Figure, Sepik River
Hook figure, sometimes also known as 'Samban", carved with both male and female elements, with red and black pigment. Typical geometric design at back of neck, mask-like face, standing on pedestal with three suspension hooks.
Hook figures like this were suspended from the rafters of houses and used to hang valuables and/or bags of foodstuffs etc. to keep away from vermin. They were carefully carved and often bear the shape or form of ancestors and spirits.
Similar hook figure held at Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Nr. VI32470, attributed to Herman Schoede (1877-1945) and collector prior to 1911 from Karau, lower Sepik.
Locale: Murik Lakes, Lower Sepik River
Country: Papua New Guinea
Date: 1936 or earlier
Material: Wood, pigment
Dimensions: H 22" x W 7"
Technique: Carved
Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection
Similar items:
Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Nr. VI32470
http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=c ollection&objectId=737145&viewType=detailV iew
De Zwaan Amsterdam 2018
https://www.artkhade.com/object/llHx2GfC
