Schouten Island Spear Tip-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
Even more so than the many gorgeous arrows New Guinea produces, spears are often wonderful works of art. The long black palm shafts deeply cut with precise all over designs, sharp bamboo blades and in some cases, like this one, with full ancestral spirit figures carved into the fore shaft to guide the projectile home into an enemy’s body. In this example the main section of the spear is long gone leaving the tip and its dutiful spirit figure lashed tightly with ancient fiber rope. The piece dates to the late 19th century, is 23 ½” (59.6 cm) in height with the figure itself being 2 ½” (6.4 cm) tall. The price is $1800.