house-post
- Museum number
- Oc1964,06.1
- Description
-
Wooden carved house post, anthropomorphic, with a fish carved beside neck on each side. The upper section of a 'haus tamberan'. Weathered surface.
- Dimensions
-
Height: 254 centimetres (approx)
-
Width: 54 centimetres (approx)
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Depth: 38 centimetres (approx)
- Curator's comments
-
Collected by vendor. Western IATMUL, near AMBUNTI, middle SEPIK River, TERRITORY of NEW GUINEA. The upper section of an old HAUS TAMBERAN post.
-
Iatmul man, Claytus Yambon, visited the British Museum as part of the Melanesian Research Project in 2009 and made many comments about this pole (see Bolton et al 2013), including:
'It is a great piece, done in the old time. The old people, our fathers, they were great artists...The old carved poles are just rotting away, but this one here, it's just great, it's great that it survives here...It represents a spirit as well as being a house post...The post...was carved with stone. But carved with stone or metal, it doesn't make any difference. The techniques are similar. But the stone tool gives a very smooth finish'.
- Location
- On display (G24)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2004-ongoing, BM, Gallery 24, Living and Dying
- Acquisition date
- 1964
- Acquisition notes
- Collected by vendor during fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, early 1960s.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Oc1964,06.1
