African & Oceanic Art | Antiquities - 8th June 2021
Lot 559
A Rennell Island shark hook gaung'akao
Estimate £3,000 - £5,000
+ Buyers Premium
Description
A Rennell Island shark hook gaung'akao
Melanesia
wood with sennit,
34.6cm high including the loop, 20cm high, without the loop.
Provenance
Bill Evans, Caspian Gallery, Sydney.
Joost and Truus Daalder Collection, Adelaide, Australia.
Private Collection, Sydney.
cf. Adrienne L. Kaeppler. The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art, 2010, p.272, pl.227 - "Ritual hooks were used by the priest of the island to invoke the gods before fishing and were considered taboo."