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Gope Spirit board

Omaumere Village, Urama Island, Papuan Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Late 19th – early 20th century

Height: 103 cm – Width: 48 cm – Depth: 5 cm

Carved wood, natural pigments

28 000 €

Papuan Gulf sculpture was primarily two-dimensional, notably consisting of board-like carvings known as Gope spirit boards. Villages formerly had large communal Men’s Houses. These houses were the seats of individual shrines housing Gope spirit boards, figures, and other sacred objects associated with the clans’ imunu (guardian spirits).
This large Gope board is a remarkable early example with a prestigious provenance.

Provenance

Field-collected by Thomas Schultze-Westrum on February 5th, 1966
Ex collection John & Marcia Friede, Rye, New York (Jolika collection)

Publication(s)

Photographed on site in Omaumere Village on the day it was collected in 1966
Image illustrated in « Collecting New Guinea Art », Michael Hamson, 2013