Figure – Abelam – Sepik – Papua New Guinea

Wooden ancestral spirit figure of the Abelam tribe from East-Sepik, Papua New Guinea. This statue was kept in the hut of the chief of the tribe. The Abelam people live in the Prince Alexander Mountains area of the East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea.  The Abelam people are well known for the monumental Ceremonial Houses or Haus Tambaran where all important ceremonies take place inside.

The Abelam people north of the Sepik River practice perhaps the longest and most spectacular initiation cycle of any New Guinea people. Beginning in childhood, each Abelam male must pass through eight separate initiation rites over the course of twenty to thirty years, before he is a fully initiated man. Each successive ritual requires both a physical ordeal and the viewing of increasingly elaborate displays of sacred objects in specially constructed chambers within the men’s ceremonial house. This process continues until the final rites, in which the initiate is shown the largest and most sacred of all displays—the brilliantly painted figures and other images portraying the powerful clan spirits called nggwalndu and ancestor figures.

Provenance: former private German collection

Object:	Figure
Ethnic group:	Abelam
Country:	Sepik, Indonesia
Material:	Wood
Period:	Mid 20th century
Sold with stand:	No
Dimensions:	93x17x8 cm
Weight:	1700 gram
Condition:	Good condition, used with some signs of wear