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Details
LOT 2140
New Guinea Woven Cowrie Marriage Headdress
19TH-20TH CENTURY A.D.
32 1/2 in. (2 kg total, 82 cm including stand).
A long open ambuusap of closely woven fibre cords with small cowrie shells sewn to the outer surfaces in lines, terminating at the base in a crocodile head; typical of work from the Siakulen Blackwater Lakes region in Sepik Province; with a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1970s-1990s.
Ex property of an American gentleman.
Literature
Cf. Biebuyck D and Van den Abbeele, N., The Power of Headdresses, Brussels, 1984, p.228, pl.182, for similar and discussion.
Footnotes
These elaborate headdresses were worn by women on ceremonial occasions, such as marriage.
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