Yimam Hook Figure (Yipwon), Korewari River Region, Papua New Guinea

with attachment of Pesquet's Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus), Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), and Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis) feathers.

Allan Stone, New York, acquired in the 1970s or 1980s

Christie's New York, Selections from the Allan Stone Collection, November 12, 2007, illustrated on the cover

Good condition for an object of this type and age. Spine broken and glued above first hook below the head. Minor marks, nicks, scratches, and small chips throughout consistent with age and use. Surface age cracks. Small old loss to toes. Surface dry. Fine aged patina with remains of red and black pigment. Some losses in feather attachments.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Several archaic cultures of the Middle and Upper Sepik River Region of New Guinea share a common tradition of carving sacred figures which incorporate a series of opposed hooks, including the garra figures of the Bahinemo peoples, aripa figures of the Inyai-Ewa peoples and the yipwon figures of the Yimam peoples.  Regarding those found along the Korewari River, Kjellgren (2007: 58) notes: "Admired by Western artists for their radical conception of the human form, the distinctive one-legged hook figures (yipwon) of the Korewori River region caused a sensation when the first examples reached the West in the 1950s.  Created by the Yimam people, the figures occur in two distinct sizes.  Large-scale images, [like the present figure ...] were owned by clans or subclans and kept in the men's ceremonial house, where they stood leaning against the back wall, the most sacred area of the house's inner sanctum. [...]  Depicting primordial ancestral spirits, the figures served as vessels into which the spirits were summoned before a hunt or raid.  Each yipwon bore an individual name and often had a close relationship with one of the senior men from the associated clan."

During the late 1930s, the British sculptor Henry Moore became preoccupied with pointed forms, as evidenced in his preparatory drawings of the period.  Wilkinson (in Rubin 1984: 607) notes that given Moore's well-documented interest in the formal qualities of Oceanic sculpture, for his famous bronze Three Points of 1939-1940, a "plausible source may be found in tribal art.  I am referring to the 'hook' figures, or Yipwons, from the Karawari region of New Guinea [...  They] could almost be mistaken for Moore's Three Points."  Moore himself wrote in 1941 about "New Guinea carvings, with drawn out spider-like extensions and bird-beak elongations [...]" (quoted after Rubin 1984: 604).  The Chilean surrealist Roberto Matta Echaurren owned several Papuan "hook sculptures", including the famous large-scale standing yipwon figure today in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M.H. de Young Museum (inv. no. "2000.172.1").