A ceremonial bowl with anthropomorphic handles. - Lot 127

A ceremonial bowl with anthropomorphic handles. This type of double-handled, four-legged bowl was used in ceremonies dedicated to the ancestors, and the carved handle figures may represent clan ancestors rather than mythological ones, according to Douglas Newton. Admiralty Island art is described in specialist literature as "solidly elegant", but also "leaving a rather neutral emotional impression" or its figures as "static", so perhaps it has long remained relatively impenetrable to Western eyes. This very old bowl, collected by Count Festetics de Tolna, is, for all intents and purposes, of solid elegance. Its handles, in the shape of figures of clan ancestors, are by no means static, mysterious and magical with their prognathic heads, recalling the importance of zoomorphic iconography in the Admiralty Islands and the wider Bismarck archipelago. An old inventory number (282) is still glued to the underside of the bowl. On the occasion of the exhibition L'Aristocrate et ses Cannibales Le voyage en Océanie du Comte Festetics de Tolna (1893-1896) at the Musée du Quai Branly, which featured this bowl, Roger Boullay didn't glorify Dr. Chauvet for the scant care he seemed to have taken with the (richly informative) inventory numbers and labels originally attached to each of the objects brought back by Count Festectics, And this despite the fact that he was a man of science and, what's more, had donated some eight hundred and fourteen objects to the Musée de l'Homme, five hundred and thirty-seven of which might have come from the Festetics de Tolna collection. In Jean Roudillon's notes: "Oceania, Iles de l'Amirauté 19th century Wooden "Man" cup or dish, with two figures as handles. For ceremonial or daily use to receive Sagou, the starch extracted from the sago palm. Former collection of Docteur Stephen Chauvet, from the collection of Comte Rodolphe Festetic de Tolna, 1893. Îles de l'Amirauté, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, 19th century. Wood, old inventory label inscribed 282, small visible chips (old breaks) on the legs of one figure, old crack on one handle, superb old patina. W: 55 cm and H.: 27.5 cm See pp. 238-239 in: Arts des Mers du Sud, Collections du Musée Barbier-Mueller, Ed. MBM & Adam Biro 1998 See for other cuts in: Bismarck Archipelago Art, K. Conru, Ed. Kevin Conru & 5 continents 2013 Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea Provenance: - Collection of Count Rodolphe Festetics de Tolna, collected by him before 1896 - Collection of Dr. Stéphen Chauvet (acquired at auction in closed cases, without inventory) - Le Corneur Roudillon Gallery Collection - Jean Roudillon Collection Exhibition : L'Aristocrate et ses Cannibales Le voyage en Océanie du Comte Festetics de Tolna (1893-1896) at the Musée du Quai Branly, from October 23, 2007 to January 13, 2008.