Lake Murray Mortuary Board-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Tribal Art.
This is one of four Lake Murray mortuary boards collected in 1958 an Australian mining engineer named Williamson. There are similar ones referenced and illustrated in F. E. Williams “Natives of Lake Kutubu” from 1930. Kevin Conru illustrates one in his “Colors of Melanesia” catalog, no. 13, 1999. The present example is from a nice hardwood, cut with two diamond-shaped eyes and is the only one with a figure painted on the surface. The piece dates to the early/mid 20th century, is 49 ¼” (125.1 cm) in height and sells for $7500. Questions?