Bukie or Plains Arapesh Wooden Yam Mask-Idap-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
In my opinion the best wooden yam masks come from a group of villages in the hills between the Abelam and the West Yangoru area that is technically Plains Arapesh culture or what they call themselves, Bukie—meaning people. The yam masks are made from a hardwood, have elegant oval faces on top of a post. The features are normally delicate and refined with small oval eyes, long thin noses that are pierced with leaf-shaped nostrils. The backside on this one has a dark aged brown patina. The present example is both classic and beautiful with an impressive provenance. It was in an Australian collection prior to 1950, is ex. Pierre Langlois, ex. Bernard de Grunne, ex. Anthony Meyer and ex. Sotheby’s Paris 3 December 2004, lot 4. The mask dates to the early 20th century, is 15 3/8” (39.1 cm) in height and sells for $4200.