A very fine effigy of a male flying-fox (fruit eating bat) reportedly used as a “love-charm“. The animal is made to be suspended upside down from the rafters of the young womans home by the pretender. There is a remarkable animation in the face of the animal and while of overall stylized form the rendition results in a wonderfully animated piece.

Boig/Waskurian area, East Sepik area, PNG, Melanesia. Wood with a good patina of age and usage. Some loss along the edges due to rodents. 18 x 6,2 x 7.5 cm. 19th/20th century. Field collected by Michael Hamson and Zena Kruzick circa 2004.

Michael Hamson reports having found three bat-figures on a collecting trip to the Boig/Waskurian area - inland of Kaup Lagoon ; about a days walk from the coast. An old man had three pieces : a father bat consiting of a pre-contact winged bat figure standing on two human legs ; a mother bat in the form of a pre-contact half figure fragment and the present bat carving considered to be the baby of the two other figures.

Ref. : Hamson, Michael : personal communication August 2008