Bidspirit auction | Lime Container, Sepik River

Lime Container, Sepik River - Lime Container or Stopper, carved, anthropomorphic, marked ”36-105-70 / 455” by Ledoux, with white and traces of red and blue pigmentation. Nose elongated beyond the face and into a snake or crocodile. On other side, nose elongated to geometric design that flows into a stylized bird. According to anthropologist Raymond Firth (1936), lime stoppers ”... are made by the men who initiate novices into male secrets ...”. In his book (see Similar Items below), he describes a very similar lime stopper ”the carving here is of mwah, a totemic clan ancestor, the nose of which is prolonged into a snake. The eyes are small cowrie shells, the colors white, black, blue (Reckitt's) and a touch of red.” Locale: Sepik River Country: Papua New Guinea Date: 1936 or earlier Material: Bamboo, Wood, and Rattan Dimensions: L 29”/ 74 cm x W 3”/ 7.5cm Technique: Carved Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection Similar items: LOT 23, BINOCHE ET GIQUELLO, PARIS - 6 NOV. 2015 Art de Nouvelle-Guinée : Collection d'un amateur https://www.artkhade.com/en/object/776djesK 1936 Firth, Raymond. Art & Life in New Guinea. New York: The Studio Publications Inc., page 60-61.