Rare Malakula Grade Figure Vanuatu Oceania Primitive Art

Carved in the trunk of a tree fern with the effigy of a praying mantis.
Used during a secret ritual in the House of Men.
Painted with natural pigments.
Collected on the island of Malakula
Southwest-bay VANUATU

True symbols of Vanuatu which elevated them to the rank of major customary objects, the tree ferns called "Figures of Rank" confer on the men who sculpt them their ranks in the chiefdoms.
Ferns are sculpted away from the eyes of women in the heart of the trunk on the very place of the cut.
Only a few sculptors still master the centuries-old gestures and the outline of the refined forms which make these ferns unique and timeless works. They accompany secret rites and grade passages

Can be exhibited outdoors and indoors
On sale only in the EU Sold with its CITES number issued by DREAL Poitiers

To be collected on site only or can be sent to study with the buyer