Papuan Gulf, south coast, Papua New Guinea
19th century
Wood
Dimensions: please confirm before publishing
Provenance: Private East Coast collection
The kundu is the hourglass-form hand drum used throughout Papua New Guinea in ceremonial contexts where rhythm, ancestral narrative, and community ritual converge. Drums of this type were carved with stone tools and used across generations, retained as family objects connecting the living to ancestral lineages through sound and ceremony. This example carries the shark-mouth terminal form and incised clan designs characteristic of Papuan Gulf production.
The lower end of the drum terminates in a carved shark-mouth form with incised decorative patterning, the wood darkened throughout by age and handling. Ancestor faces appear in high relief within the overall composition, integrating figurative and geometric elements in a manner consistent with Gulf Coast carving traditions. The drum retains a carved handle and the skin membrane aperture at the upper end, the full functional form intact.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Papuan Gulf, south coast, Papua New Guinea
19th century
Wood
Dimensions: please confirm before publishing
Provenance: Private East Coast collection
The kundu is the hourglass-form hand drum used throughout Papua New Guinea in ceremonial contexts where rhythm, ancestral narrative, and community ritual converge. Drums of this type were carved with stone tools and used across generations, retained as family objects connecting the living to ancestral lineages through sound and ceremony. This example carries the shark-mouth terminal form and incised clan designs characteristic of Papuan Gulf production.
The lower end of the drum terminates in a carved shark-mouth form with incised decorative patterning, the wood darkened throughout by age and handling. Ancestor faces appear in high relief within the overall composition, integrating figurative and geometric elements in a manner consistent with Gulf Coast carving traditions. The drum retains a carved handle and the skin membrane aperture at the upper end, the full functional form intact.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
