Fore culture, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Wood, pigment, natural fiber, shell, feathers
Height: 41 in (104.1 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in New Guinea in the 1960s by Stan Moriarty, Sydney; Stephen Kellner Gallery, Sydney; Wayne Heathcote, London; Art Loss Register certificate #S00256020
Decoy figures from the Fore cultural region of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea were associated with protective spirits and placed near the fortified enclosures of villages to guard against enemy night raids. They functioned as both spiritual presence and visual deterrent, their human scale and alert bearing intended to be perceived as a sentinel at the perimeter. The Fore people of the Eastern Highlands were among the most studied communities in Papua New Guinea during the mid-twentieth century, and objects collected during the 1960s field period carry particular documentary significance.
This figure retains a remarkable complement of original adornments: a kina shell pectoral at the chest, a fiber skirt at the waist, a feathered headdress, and a woven fiber band across the shoulder. The face is animated and expressive, the mouth open in a wide grin, with shell eyes set into the carved head — a combination that gives the figure a direct, arresting presence at full scale. Painted body motifs remain visible across the torso, applied in pigment over the wood surface in patterns consistent with Fore decorative traditions.
The provenance chain is among the most thoroughly documented of any Highlands figure to appear on the market: field collected in the 1960s by Stan Moriarty, passing through Stephen Kellner Gallery in Sydney, then to Wayne Heathcote in London, with an Art Loss Register clearance certificate on file. This sequence places the figure within the generation of objects removed during active ceremonial use and subsequently dispersed through the specialist trade over several decades. At 41 inches, the scale, surface integrity, and provenance depth together position this as one of the more significant Fore figures outside institutional collections.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Fore culture, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
Early 20th century
Wood, pigment, natural fiber, shell, feathers
Height: 41 in (104.1 cm)
Provenance: Field collected in New Guinea in the 1960s by Stan Moriarty, Sydney; Stephen Kellner Gallery, Sydney; Wayne Heathcote, London; Art Loss Register certificate #S00256020
Decoy figures from the Fore cultural region of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea were associated with protective spirits and placed near the fortified enclosures of villages to guard against enemy night raids. They functioned as both spiritual presence and visual deterrent, their human scale and alert bearing intended to be perceived as a sentinel at the perimeter. The Fore people of the Eastern Highlands were among the most studied communities in Papua New Guinea during the mid-twentieth century, and objects collected during the 1960s field period carry particular documentary significance.
This figure retains a remarkable complement of original adornments: a kina shell pectoral at the chest, a fiber skirt at the waist, a feathered headdress, and a woven fiber band across the shoulder. The face is animated and expressive, the mouth open in a wide grin, with shell eyes set into the carved head — a combination that gives the figure a direct, arresting presence at full scale. Painted body motifs remain visible across the torso, applied in pigment over the wood surface in patterns consistent with Fore decorative traditions.
The provenance chain is among the most thoroughly documented of any Highlands figure to appear on the market: field collected in the 1960s by Stan Moriarty, passing through Stephen Kellner Gallery in Sydney, then to Wayne Heathcote in London, with an Art Loss Register clearance certificate on file. This sequence places the figure within the generation of objects removed during active ceremonial use and subsequently dispersed through the specialist trade over several decades. At 41 inches, the scale, surface integrity, and provenance depth together position this as one of the more significant Fore figures outside institutional collections.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
