Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas - 21st September 2023
Lot 1692
An Abelam female figure tetepeku
Estimate £10,000 - £15,000
+ Buyers Premium
Description
An Abelam female figure tetepeku
Burui Kunai region, Sepik Plains, Papua New Guinea
of slender form with a wide leg stance and her hands on her hips, the back with two integral lugs for mounting, late 19th / early 20th century,
112cm high, on a stand. (2)
Provenance
Wayne Heathcote, New York.
cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession No. 1978.412.819
These images of a slender naked female were found inside the men's ceremonial house above the main entrance and above the entrances to the interior chambers and the initiation chamber. As the initiates enter they stoop or crawl beneath the legs of the tetepeku, so they literally emerge from between her legs to enter the sacred space beyond, an act that symbolises the rebirth of the novices as initiated men. The figure also acts as a door, blocking the uninitiated from entering the ceremonial house.