Gallery Label
This bowl was carved from a single piece of wood, with its complexly carved handles formed independently and attached with parinarium nut paste. Unable to bear the weight of the vessel, these handles are purely decorative. The ornamental handles are carved in spiral designs, which add complexity to the more simply executed four-legged bowl. The bowl shows evidence of carving with obsidian tools and has a band of geometric relief carving around its rim.
Similar bowls were used in feasts to honor recently deceased ancestors on Lou Island, one of the Admiralty Islands. Feasts involved the entire community, and the bowls were used communally, which would explain the fairly large size. The use of such bowls waned after European contact, when missionary influence discouraged the traditional practices of ceremonial ancestor worship, and the bowls were discarded or destroyed.
Each of the Admiralty Islands, which are located to the north of the Papua New Guinea mainland, is known to have a different artistic specialty or style for its ceremonial objects. There is evidence that the inhabitants shared a seafaring culture almost five thousand years ago. Twenty or more languages are spoken in the region and the artistic diversity is reflected in the artfully rendered objects produced there.
