TALIPUN' BRIDE PRICE
162
ARTIST UNKNOWN (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)
YANGORU BOIKEN, EAST SEPIK Province, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
TALIPUN' BRIDE PRICE
woven cane fibre with white and pink natural earth pigments, with large segment of marbled turban shell
52.0 cm height
Estimate:
$1,000 - 1,500
Provenance
Private collection, Melbourne, collected 1960s
Catalogue text
The talipun is highly valued and used in ceremonial exchange as a bride price or as compensation for inter-clan or tribal warfare. The shell is the giant green snail or marbled turban shell (Turbo marmoratus). This is traded from the islands to the mainland where in itself it has currency. It is then attached to a woven mask. This example with protruding eyes represents a spirit.