Vao Island - Malekula, Vanuatu
Circa 1940/50
Height: 12.5 inches (32 cm)
Provenance: Nicolai Michoutouchkine, Noumea / American East Coast collection
This enigmatic stone head rendered from fossilized coral belongs to a small group of related examples, all collected on Vao Island. The noted anthropologist Jean Guiart collected several examples for the Musee de l'Homme in the early 1960's, which are now located in the collections of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. The British Museum also holds a similar example. Guiart noted that the coral stone heads he discovered were found inside the village men's house. An earlier field image shows other examples perched against garden walls, presumably to ensure the fertility of yams and other plants. The example here was field collected on Vao Island by Nicolai Michoutouchkine in the early 1960's, when he accompanied Jean Guiart on several field trips to Malekula and Ambrym Island at the time.
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Vao Island - Malekula, Vanuatu
Circa 1940/50
Height: 12.5 inches (32 cm)
Provenance: Nicolai Michoutouchkine, Noumea / American East Coast collection
This enigmatic stone head rendered from fossilized coral belongs to a small group of related examples, all collected on Vao Island. The noted anthropologist Jean Guiart collected several examples for the Musee de l'Homme in the early 1960's, which are now located in the collections of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. The British Museum also holds a similar example. Guiart noted that the coral stone heads he discovered were found inside the village men's house. An earlier field image shows other examples perched against garden walls, presumably to ensure the fertility of yams and other plants. The example here was field collected on Vao Island by Nicolai Michoutouchkine in the early 1960's, when he accompanied Jean Guiart on several field trips to Malekula and Ambrym Island at the time.
INQUIRE HERE
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