Admiralty Island Figurative Ladle ex La Korrigane

A very fine and important, figurative, ceremonial ladle used by men of importance. The handle represents a large, standing, male ancestor figure in the classical style of the Admiralty islands. He is portrayed wearing a conical headdress, a war-charm on the nape of his neck, and the initiates, shell, penis-ornament.

The handle is inserted into the polished half shell of a coconut and lashed together at the rim. The attachment is waterproofed with parinarium nut paste. Ladles of this type are used by men as eating utensils and the level of their status is indicated by the sophistication and form of the handle. Some ladles represent clan related symbols while others more rarely bear ancestral representations as here.

Ladles were an important trade items and eagerly sought after by foreign visitors to the Admiralties resulting in a large selection of unused and un-patinated ladles in museum and private collections. The example here shows extensive wear and usage and is obviously an object of powerful prestige and function.

Carved by Kumayo, a Matankor man from the Pam Islands, Southern Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, PNG, Melanesia.
Wood, fiber, coconut shell, parinarium paste and traces of pigments with a fine patina of age and usage.
25 x 12,8 cm.
19th/20th century.
 

Provenance Provenance :
Field collected on 17 September 1935 during the La Korrigane expedition (1934-1936) by the Comtesse Etienne de Ganay, field inv. N° 1354.
Musée de l’Homme, Paris : La Korrigane deposit from 1938 to 1961, N° D.39.3.701
Exhibited during the first inaugural exhibition of the new Musée de l’Homme "Voyage de La Korrigane en Océanie" from June through October 1938. (see photo of vitrine « Iles de l’Amirauté »).
Returned by private arrangement to the families De Ganay, Ratissbonne and Van den Broek d’Obrenan of the La Korrigane expedition in 1961.
Sold at auction, Collection Océanienne du Voyage de la Korrigane, Hôtel Drouot - Paris, Maurice & Philippe Rheims - auctioneers, Jean Roudillon - expert, 4th & 5th December 1961, lot 209 (1 of 11)
Ex Anthony JP Meyer, Galerie Meyer before 1999
Ex Sir Alistaire McAlpine, Lord of Westgreen, collection (-), London (illegible white number erased)
Ex coll. : Frederic & Dominique Mathieu, Cargo/Paris

The inventory car reads (translation from French) :
“This ladle (lot no. 1354 and deposit no. D.39.3.701) was collected on September 17, 1935, from Pam Island among the Matankor (Admiralty archipelago under Australian mandate). It belonged to Kumayo, who sculpted it himself and sold it to the Countess Etienne de Ganay. This ladle, used by the natives to take food, consists of a hollowed coconut and a handle made of naé wood. It is carved with a male character (iamat) wearing a local fashion hairstyle. A later note is written (probably by C. Coiffier) on the typed card : "sold by Meyer in 1999"

Inventory and historical museum information kindly supplied by Christian Coiffier, Architect, ethnologist, author, former curator of the Oceanic Department at the Musée de l'Homme, Paris ; presently continuing research notably on the La Korrigane expedition and attached to Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.

Exhibited :
"Voyage de la Korrigane en Océanie", de juin à octobre 1938, Musée de l'Homme, Paris
View of the exhibition in 1938 shows the ladle on the bottom shelf third from left.
This exhibition photograph is from the collections of the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris : N° PP0091512 « Vue d'une vitrine à l'occasion de l'exposition "Voyage de la Korrigane en Océanie", de juin à octobre 1938, au musée de l'Homme : "Iles de l'Amirauté ". » by Henri Tracol.
 

Literature: Pub. : Ottino-Garanger, Marc : LES OBJETS DE LA KORRIGANE A TRAVERS LES VENTES PUBLIQUES – État des lieux. Travail privé de compilation sous la direction de Christian Coiffier, Paris 2011/2012, p. 19.