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Cult object, Garra or Gra, C-14 dating: 18th–19th century (inconclusive % probability)
Wood
137.2 x 40.6 x 10.2 cm (54.5 x 16 x 4 in.)
The Marcia and John Friede Collection, a Promised Gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L05.1.23

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: "Collected by Lynda Cunningham in the 1960s. Walter Randel Collection, New York." (Catalog #284, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 128.) PUBLICATIONS: 2005 - "This hook, as with the next object, was hung when not in use from one of the interior side beams or 'placed in a row inside the upper part of the ceremonial house gable' (Newton, 1971: 19). During initiation ceremonies it was held between the legs of dancers. It is a manifestation of a water spirit and should-presumably in the context of ritual-'be kept immersed in swamps or other watery places' (ibid.), though the hook shapes are variously interpreted as hornbill beaks and catfish antennae. Eyes of cassowaries and pigs and, for the central element, sun and moon, have also been mentioned as motifs (ibid., and Newton, 1979: 328, fig. 22.62). The spirits they represent are seen as 'hunting helpers, grababufa' (Kaufmann, 2003: 72). They are part of the Sepik hook-shaped figure tradition that, as some scholars have proposed, extends from the Bahinemo or even farther west on the upper Sepik through the Ewa and Yimam of the Karawari (Korewori) to the Biwat of the Yuat River in the lower Sepik, and even farther east to the Romkun of the middle Ramu River (Haberland, 1964). The parallels they cite are very convincing. (See, for example, pl. 128, 129, 146, 147, 265, 266, 271, 286, and possibly 292). Similar motifs are also found on a May River paddle and a Lumi bowl, both of which have recently entered the collection. For illustrated discussions of the Bahinemo hook figures, see Newton, 1971: 18-27, and Schuster, 1972; see also Goldman, 1971, fig. 26." (Catalog #285, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 129.) 1995 - Meyer, 1995, fig. 292.

Related Keywords
Gra or Garra object Cult Francisco San Museums Arts Fine Gift Promised 128 p 2 Volume 2005 Friede John Marcia Jolika Masterpieces Art 284 Catalog York Randel Walter 1960s Cunningham Lynda by Collected people Bahinemo Oceania Province Sepik East Guinea New Papua Melanesia Sculpture Wood 0709200406050470 A360938 L05.1.23 AOA