Ragnar Lindahl - The Swedish Consul Collection (1888-1978)
Ragnar Lindahl
The Swedish Consul Collection (1888-1978)
By Michael Hamson
A number of superb Sepik and New Britain art objects were collected by the Swedish Consul to New Guinea Ragnar Lindahl in the 1920s when he owned and operated a copra plantation on the northwest coast of the Gazelle Peninsula aptly named Stockholm.
Ragnar Lindahl, Swedish Consul to New Guinea 1926-1932
Lindahl’s quest for adventure started early when he left home in 1903, at the age of 15, to start a career at sea. He initially sailed mainly within the Nordic countries until he signed on as an ordinary seaman to the three-masted, fully rigged “Viking” in England. For years he ventured the oceans to such places as the Galapagos, Mauritius and around both Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope before eventually settling in Sydney. It was there in 1913 that he heard of a trader needing a skipper to run cargo in New Guinea. It was work that seemed ideal to Lindahl. Based in Kokopo he transported copra from the plantations on New Britain back and forth to the mainland. During WWI he moved on to manage the Sopasopa plantation in the Admiralty Islands for the Hernsheim company. Realizing the money being made by the owners he began looking for a plantation of his own. With the financial help of his father Anders, he purchased 400 acres and planted 33,000 coconut trees on what he called the Stockholm Plantation—which is still found on maps today.
Ragnar Lindahl at home on the Stockholm Plantation, East New Britain, late 1920s
Early on Lindahl realized he needed a boat to service the plantation. Fortunately, Sweden had some fine vessels. Stockholm had hosted the 1912 Olympic Games and there was an elegant 10-meter cutter named Gallia II that had been sailed by the Russian Olympic team (winning a bronze medal) and had remained in Sweden for over a decade. In 1923 Lindahl had the boat transported by ship to Surabaya in Java and sailed her the rest of the way to his plantation himself.
Ragnar Lindahl on early tractor with assistant seated at the backside, circa 1920s
In 1926 he was appointed Swedish Consul to New Guinea and held this position until he left the island for good in 1932.
It is not known if Lindahl travelled himself to the Sepik region and collected the Biwat flute stopper, Yuat River figures, canoe mask and shield himself or if he acquired them in Rabaul which was a center for most trading companies at the time.
Lindahl with cat, Stockholm Plantation, 1920s
Back home in Sweden Lindahl considered himself more of a craftsman and jewelry maker than a collector but you can see importance of the objects in his life from the newspaper article photos from the Helsingborg Daily News of January 21, 1950.
Lindahl died in 1978 at the age of 89. His son Patrick said his father had lived two lives, “one in the Pacific and one in Sweden.”
I would like to thank Patrick Lindahl for the information and photos in this article.
Sailing vessel Gallia II, New Guinea
Helsingborg Daily News, January 21, 1950
Ragnar and Patrick Lindahl, Helsingborg Daily News, January 21, 1950
Pre-contact, stone-carved Biwat flute stopper, ex. Ragnar Lindahl Collection
Yuat River canoe mask, pre-contact, stone-carved, ex. Ragnar Lindahl Collection
Yuat River shield, ex. Ragnar Lindahl Collection
Yuat River male ancestral spirit figure, pre-contact, stone-carved, ex. Ragnar Lindahl Collection
Yuat River male ancestral spirit figure, ex. Ragnar Lindahl Collection
East New Britain Tapa, ex. Ragnar Lindahl Collection
