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 120:
Bone Dagger, Painted with Fiber and Shell
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Sold for: $600
Start price:
$
500
Estimated price :
$1,000 - $2,000
Buyer's Premium: 28%
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sales tax: 6.625%
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Bone Dagger, Painted with Fiber and Shell
Human bone dagger, painted red, with fiber and shell decoration.
In his Diary, page 162 (lot 108 box F1), Ledoux explains: "There is some contraction here as to whether the bones are human femur, or cassowary. The human leg bone daggers are only used in boys' initiatory ceremony. These bones are found on the beach as the cemetery is worn away. They do not know whose bones are used and they are not saved from burial."
Similar human bone dagger gifted by Louis Pierre Ledoux in 1936 to the Brooklyn Museum.
Locale: Lower Sepik River
Country: Papua New Guinea
Date: 1936 or earlier
Material: Human bone (femur)
Dimensions: L 13"
Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection
Similar item:
Brooklyn Museum
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/54193
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