Early 1900s Papua New Guinea, East Sepik Yipwon Hook Figure

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A Yipwon Hook figure from the Karawari River, east Sepik, Papua New Guinea This old carved wood one leg distinctive … Read more A Yipwon Hook figure from the Karawari River, east Sepik, Papua New Guinea This old carved wood one leg distinctive hook Yipwon figure from the Karawari River, east Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. These figures were kept in the men's ceremonial houses. Depicting powerful spirits, the images served as vessels into which the spirits were called before a hunt or raid and presented with offerings.

The people of the upper Karawari River are known for their spirit figures, or yipwon, in which the human figure is radically reinvented, stylized and reduced to an almost two-dimensional plane. The present yipwon is notable for the large scale of its head See less