拍品專文
Les figures aripa du peuple Inyai-Ewa, vivant le long du cours supérieur de la rivière Korewori, un affluent du fleuve Sepik, constituent un corpus d’objets très célèbres de Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée. Ces puissantes statues représentent des images spirituelles afin de favoriser les récoltes agricoles mais aussi la chasse et la guerre. Les statues aripa représentent un personnage stylisé de profil se tenant sur une jambe – la tête et la jambe sont séparées par une bande médiane ajourée et décorée ; elle est la caractéristique la plus significative du style aripa et matérialise l’âme de la statue. Chaque ancienne sculpture, par sa forme singulière et sa signification notamment, apparaît comme très personnelle. La figure aripa présentée est atypique car elle est dépourvue des crochets symétriques ornés par les sculptures classiques Inyai-Ewa. L’élément central de l’âme est constitué d’une spirale très détaillée, et la large zone thoracique, d’éléments géométriques qui semblent tourbillonner et qui donnent du relief à la surface plane constituée de vides et de pleins. La jambe sculptée se termine par la malléole clairement définie qui, avec la tête, sont les seuls éléments anthropomorphes de la figure.
One of the most famous of New Guinea sculptures is that of the aripa figures of the Inyai-Ewa people who live along the upper Korewori River, a tributary of the Sepik River. These powerful and beautifully balanced statues represent spirit images which assure successful harvests, success in hunting and war. They take the form of a head and a leg separated by the most distinctive feature of the style, the beautifully executed complex open-worked middle section, meant to represent the “soul” of the statue. These ancient carvings are therefore highly individual in their respective form. This aripa image is a-typical as it does not show the typical symmetrically arranged hooks of classical Inyai-Ewa carvings. The central soul element consists of an intrically detailed spiral, and the broad thoracic area of the figure shows swirling geometric carvings which serve as decorative element of the flat surface. The leg is carved with a clearly defined knee, which, together with the head, is the only anthropomorphic element in the figure.
One of the most famous of New Guinea sculptures is that of the aripa figures of the Inyai-Ewa people who live along the upper Korewori River, a tributary of the Sepik River. These powerful and beautifully balanced statues represent spirit images which assure successful harvests, success in hunting and war. They take the form of a head and a leg separated by the most distinctive feature of the style, the beautifully executed complex open-worked middle section, meant to represent the “soul” of the statue. These ancient carvings are therefore highly individual in their respective form. This aripa image is a-typical as it does not show the typical symmetrically arranged hooks of classical Inyai-Ewa carvings. The central soul element consists of an intrically detailed spiral, and the broad thoracic area of the figure shows swirling geometric carvings which serve as decorative element of the flat surface. The leg is carved with a clearly defined knee, which, together with the head, is the only anthropomorphic element in the figure.