Très exceptionnel masque-crochet, Bahinemo, village de Gahom, Monts Hunstein, Est du Sepik , Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée

Collecté par le Dr. Philip Goldman à la fin des années 1960
Ancienne collection Eddy Hof (1914-2001), La Haye
Antonio Casanovas, Madrid
Collection Marcia et John Friede, New York

Exposé et reproduit dans :
Goldman, Hunstein Korowori, 1971 : couverture, catalogue de l'exposition, Gallery 43, Londres, octobre-novembre 1971

Reproduit dans :
Friede, New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, vol.1 : 320, n° 286 et vol.2 : 129

An X-ray of the mask shows that the lower part of the jaw and the second hook from the top are restored. The restorations were made by Philip Goldman sometime between the collection date and the 1971 exhibition. The X-ray also shows that the breaks on the first and last hooks have been repaired using the original pieces. The rest of the mask is intact. As a result of its age the surface shows considerable erosion, visible in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Entre 1957 et 1969, le Dr. Philip Goldman - marchand, collectionneur et anthropologue - effectua plusieurs séjours en Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée. La plus importante exposition qu'il organisa au retour de ses voyages fut celle consacrée en 1971 à l' « art abstrait » de la région du Haut Korowori et des Monts Hunstein (Hunstein Korowori, Gallery 43, Londres). C'est à ce masque, provenant du village de Gahom, qu'il consacra la couverture du catalogue.  

Aujourd'hui encore, il s'impose à nos yeux comme l'aboutissement le plus beau et le plus étonnant du degré d'abstraction atteint par les peuples Bahinemo. Le visage humain – déstructuré - se devine dans le contour incertain de la face en deux dimensions d'où jaillissent les yeux tubulaires aux mouvements divergents, tandis que la bouche en croissant s'ajoure sur le dessin irrégulier des dents taillées en pointes. Puissamment architecturés dans l'espace, les crochets en forme de becs d'oiseaux calao s'alignent sur l'axe médian, la courbe des uns répondant à celle des autres. Accentuées par les traces de polychromie, ocre rouge, ocre jaune et blanche, les lignes sinueuses affleurant à la surface profondément érodée, offrent au visage sa part d'éternité.

A la modernité formelle répond le sentiment émouvant de l'archaïque beauté à laquelle nous confronte ce masque. Sa datation par la technique du C14 révèle une ancienneté remontant entre le XIV^e et le XV^e siècle. Lors de l'exposition Crocodile and Cassowary  (Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1971) -manifestation pionnière qui révéla au public américain la richesse des arts de Nouvelle-Guinée – Douglas Newton sélectionna une dizaine de masques garra des Monts Hunstein. Face à l'apparente « fraicheur » de la plupart s'imposent dans le catalogue deux fragments (Newton, 1971, n° 46 et 47) collectés dans le village de Gohom, offrant les mêmes signes de très grande ancienneté - l'un provenant des collections du Museum of Primitive Art. Ce masque, dont Philip Goldman restitua, avant son exposition en 1971, l'intégrité de la forme, s'inscrit dans le corpus très restreint des témoins les plus archaïques – et les plus beaux - de l'art abstrait des Monts Hunstein.

Les masques garra ne sont pas conçus pour être portés. Ils sont suspendus à l'intérieur de la Maison des hommes et sortent, tenus dans les mains des danseurs – tous des hommes – durant les cérémonies d'initiation. D'après Newton (1971 : 20), les masques garra sont identifiés tant aux esprits de la brousse qu'aux hommes âgés du clan. Leurs crochets représentent des becs de calaos – oiseaux censés nicher dans les endroits où vivent ces esprits - et dont la chair ne peut être consommée que par les hommes âgés.

Mâchoire inférieure et 2^e crochet à partir du haut, restaurés

A highly exceptional hook mask, Bahinemo, Gahom village, Hunstein Mountains, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea

Between 1957 and 1969, the dealer, collector, and anthropologist Dr Philip Goldman made several trips to Papua New Guinea. The most important exhibition organized upon his return took place in 1971 and was devoted to the 'abstract art' of the Upper Korowori region and the Hunstein Mountains (Hunstein Korowori, Gallery 43, London). He chose this mask, collected in the village of Gahom, for the cover of the catalogue.

To our eyes this mask still represents the most beautiful and moving example of the degree of artistic abstraction attained by the Bahimeno people. The human character of the deconstructed face can be sensed in the uncertain contour of the two-dimensional surface, from which the tubular eyes protrude in different directions, whilst the crescent-shaped mouth emerges from the irregular pattern of the notched teeth. Powerfully constructed in space, the hooks in the form of hornbill beaks are aligned along the medial axis, their curves mirroring one another.  The sinuous pattern of the grain is laid bare by the deeply eroded wood and is further enhanced by the white, yellow, and red ochre pigments, which imbue the mask with a sense of the eternal.

Carbon 14 dating indicates that the wood dates to between the 14^th and 15^th centuries. For the pioneering exhibition Crocodile and Cassowary (Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1971), which revealed to the American public the richness of New Guinean art, Douglas Newton selected around ten garra masks from the Hunstein Mountains. In contrast with the apparent 'freshness' of most of these masks, the catalogue contained two fragmentary examples, one from the collection of the Museum of Primitive Art, which were both collected in the village of Gahom and which show similar signs of age (Newton, 1971, nos. 46 and 47). The offered mask, which Philip Goldman had restored prior to the 1971 exhibition so as to reinstate the integrity of the face, belongs to the very limited corpus of the most ancient – and most beautiful – works of abstract art from the Hunstein Mountains.

Garra masks were not designed to be worn. They were hung inside the men's ceremonial house and brought out and held in the hands of male dancers during initiation rites. According to Newton (1971: 20), garra masks were identified with bush spirits and with the clan's male elders. Their hooks symbolize the beaks of hornbill birds (sometimes the bird's entire head is represented), which were thought to nest in the places where bush spirits live, and the flesh of which could only be eaten by the elders.