Lake Sentani Master Carvers Knife

A very fine master carvers knife decorated with the powerfully carved, expressive head of an ancestral being. The handle is decorated with beautifully carved motifs in low relief representations of the “eye”, interlocking spirals and swirling motifs reminiscent of the movement of water (fouw) and water-striders (Gerridae). The salvaged steel blade is originally from a European trade-knife and bears the remains of the “Forkbrand” stamp of the knife maker Friedr Herder Abr Sohn, Solingen Germany, dating back to the late 19th century. “Forkbrand” was a specific brand of steel blades and tools made for the Asian, Eastern, and colonial markets. A short aluminum sleeve has been added in the post WWII period to the blade’s insert.

Lake Sentani, Indonesian New Guinea, Melanesia.
Hard wood with a fine patina of age and use.
31,5 cm
19th/20th century

 

Provenance Provenance :
Field collected by Hans Kleyer, Munich circa 1970’s on one of his numerus voyages to New Guinea and South East Asia.
Lempertz Bruxelles - A Sculptor's Eye, Lot 244, 24 oct. 2018 (the Hans Kleyer collection)
Michel Thieme, Amsterdam

Hans Kleyer (1935-) is a German artist, a sculptor and a professor in both Dusseldorf and Munich. He is a member of the “Neue Gruppe”, founded in 1946, which is the offspring artistic movement following up on the Münchener Neuen Secession in the early 20th century. The Neue Gruppe held its first exhibition at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in 1947. He has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia and New Guinea collecting large amounts of art. His collection was offered at auction by Lempertz Bruxelles, under the title “A Sculptor's Eye” in 2018.