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Lot Essay
Ornementales plutôt que structurelles, les planches de porte, connues sous les noms de jovo ou tale, étaient traditionnellement sculptées pour encadrer l’entrée de la maison d’un chef, point focal à la fois architectural et symbolique de chaque village kanak, historiquement et, dans une certaine mesure, encore aujourd’hui. Ces planches étaient fixées aux poteaux latéraux de soutien au moyen de longues fibres passées dans de larges perforations, comme on peut le constater sur le présent exemple. Leur base était directement enchâssée dans le sol et, comme c’est souvent le cas, les parties inférieures n’ont pas survécu.
Alors que la plupart des planches de porte encore existantes présentent un vieillissement marqué, il est rare d’en rencontrer une, comme celle-ci, qui conserve ses pigments originaux noir, blanc et rouge. Le Metropolitan Museum of Art possède deux exemples étroitement apparentés (inv. n° 1979.206.1758 et 1979.206.1759), partageant un style et un caractère visuel quasiment identiques à cette pièce.
Ornamental rather than structural, door boards known as jovo or tale were traditionally carved to flank the entrance of a chief’s house, an architectural and symbolic focal point of every Kanak village, both historically and, to some extent, still today. These boards were lashed to lateral support posts using lengths of fiber threaded through large perforations, as visible in the present example. Their bases were embedded directly into the ground, and as is often the case, the lower portions have not survived. While most extant door boards exhibit significant weathering, it is rare to encounter one, such as the present lot, that retains its original pigments of black, white, and red. The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses two closely related examples (inv. no. 1979.206.1758 and 1979.206.1759), both sharing a nearly identical style and visual character with this piece.
Alors que la plupart des planches de porte encore existantes présentent un vieillissement marqué, il est rare d’en rencontrer une, comme celle-ci, qui conserve ses pigments originaux noir, blanc et rouge. Le Metropolitan Museum of Art possède deux exemples étroitement apparentés (inv. n° 1979.206.1758 et 1979.206.1759), partageant un style et un caractère visuel quasiment identiques à cette pièce.
Ornamental rather than structural, door boards known as jovo or tale were traditionally carved to flank the entrance of a chief’s house, an architectural and symbolic focal point of every Kanak village, both historically and, to some extent, still today. These boards were lashed to lateral support posts using lengths of fiber threaded through large perforations, as visible in the present example. Their bases were embedded directly into the ground, and as is often the case, the lower portions have not survived. While most extant door boards exhibit significant weathering, it is rare to encounter one, such as the present lot, that retains its original pigments of black, white, and red. The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses two closely related examples (inv. no. 1979.206.1758 and 1979.206.1759), both sharing a nearly identical style and visual character with this piece.