. The articulations are indicated as well, on the shoulders and shoulder blades, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees. The calf muscles of her lower legs are delineated. The backs of both hands are decorated with raised crescent motifs. Her breasts are indicated. The massive suspension loop is carved at the top of the coif in the form of the yabo ring, a stylization of a fully curved boars tusk – a wealth item of great value.
Tami Islands, Huon Gulf, PNG, Melanesia. Wood (alstonia) with remains of red, white, and black pigments. Obvious wear and patination indicative of great age and prolonged usage. Probably stone carved.

30.5 x 10.6 x 7.5 cm. 19th century (possibly the first decade of the 20th).

On the rear of the hook are two painted inv. N°’s 842 (old) and 3050 (recent) as well as an old paper label in cursive German which reads “325 Neü.Guinea Kais Augusta Flüss“. The label is possibly indicative of a German colonial period field collection date (1870’s to 1914). The label is of course wrong in so much as the hook does not come from the Kaiserine Augusta Fluss as the Sepik River was then named.

Provenance :
- Originally acquired from Lorenz Eckert, Basel in 1956. Eckerts reportedly stated that the hook came from the Paul Wirz collection.
- Sold CHRISTIE’S, London, 1 December 1987, lot N° 66, page 16.
- Hurst Gallery, Cambridge
- David Rosenthal, San Francisco

Illustrated :
- CHRISTIE’S. London, 1 December 1987, sale catalogue, lot N° 66, page 16.
- ART OF NEW GUINEA. Exhibition catalogue, Hurst Gallery, Cambridge, 1988, frontispiece in color and Fig. 26, page 13.
Very few of these small, superbly carved hooks are known. Notable ones are :
- Inv. N° RME 135 in the collections of the Museum Rietberg, Zurich.
- The MASCO Collection hook.
- Several examples in the Ethnographical Museum, Budapest collected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, N°’s 14.341 ; 37.785 (Biro 489z) ; 37.765 (BIRO 489t).
- A male figure hook in the Museum für Völkerkunde, Dresden.
- Another one is in a well known private collection in Amsterdam.

Ref. :
- Bodrogi, Tibor: ART IN NORTH-EAST NEW GUINEA. The Hungarian Acadamey of sciences, Budapest. 1961.
- 125 JAHRE JUBILÄUMS-AUSSTELLUNG : DIE KUNST NEUGUINEAS – 1875-2000. Exhibition guide. Museum für Völkerkunde, Dresden, 2000.
- Wardwell, A.: ISLAND ANCESTORS – Oceanic Art from the MASCO Collection. The Detroit Institue of Art, Detroit, 1994.
- THE ART OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. P. Gathercole, A. Kaeppler, D. Newton: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1979.