Bowl
ClassificationsFurnishings-Serviceware-bowls
Date20th Century
Made AtSandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumWood
Dimensions8 × 16 1/2 × 6 in. (20.3 × 41.9 × 15.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Anne and Long Shung Shih
Object number2014.15.13
DescriptionThe documentation of the material culture from the Torricelli Mountains region of Papua New Guinea is recognized as being insufficient. Unfortunately, this affects the amount of information related to this piece that could be located. While an abundance of similar bowls could not be found, a few modern examples that possessed the same deep lozenge shaped interior with pointed upper edges were found on the websites of lesser known art dealers. The oldest example found was a bowl from Sotheby’s that sold at auction in 2010. Although the shape of the bowl itself is similar to this example, it features hooks protruding out from the left and right sides and is said to evoke the forms of the shields of archers from the Torricelli Mountains region. According to the Sotheby’s record, the piece referenced was collected by Michael Hamson. One of Hamson’s publications features a bowl similar to this example. The only difference is a small section of openwork carving at one side of the bowl. Hamson describes these bowls as being made to be sturdy enough to contain yams or other starchy vegetables while they were pounded to a pulp. He identifies these bowls as paingol. No other reference to this name could be found.On View
Not on viewCollections
