Collected by Bruce Lawes (1926–2011), Papua New Guinea, c. 1957. Harry A. Franklin (1904–1983), Los Angeles. Bruce Laurie Seaman (1926-2022), Bora Bora, Tahiti and Honolulu. Wayne Heathcote (b. 1943), New York, NY, sold to; Masco Corporation Collection, Livonia, MI, sold 2008 through; [Sotheby’s, New York, to]; LACMA.

Gallery Label
This wood sculpture is thought to represent a founding ancestor. Larger than life-size, the figure has a long torso, long arms and legs, a prominent phallus, and a large head, all of which imply its sacred nature in the art of the Sawos People of the Middle Sepik River region. Their art primarily depicts human figures, and patterns carved and painted on the body mimic the Sawos People’s practiced patterns in body art. Elements of the facial paint are in the patterns of a successful headhunter, while the carvings on the torso match the patterns of scarification on initiates.

This figure was kept indoors and for ceremonial use attached to the central post in a clan’s cult house. The ancestral figure was given offerings of food before the men departed on hunting or war expeditions. It was believed that if the ancestor was not honored, great misfortune would befall the expedition.

The Sawos are closely related to the neighboring Iatmul People of the Middle Sepik River region. The Sawos are a more agricultural people, while the Iatmul are more bound to the river and its resources. The Sepik floods in this area, and the Iatmul live on the flood plain, while the Sawos inhabit the fertile soils at the edge of the plain. This has led to agreeable trade between the groups, due to their different specialties, and facilitated cultural similarity, though art objects remain distinct.