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Figure (Yipwon)

19th century or earlier
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 354
Throughout the ranges of hills south of the middle Sepik River in northeast Papua New Guinea, a number of peoples worked in what is known as the opposed-hooks style, in which curved and pointed hooks are arranged on a vertical axis around a central design element. Among the most elegant are the remarkable stylized anthropomorphic hook figures of the Alamblak people that are known as yipwon. Local oral tradition describes the origin of these distinctive images. When the spirit of the Sun, who formerly inhabited the earth, was carving the first slit gong (a large musical instrument), the pieces of wood chipped from the carving came to life as spirits who lived with the Sun in the men's ceremonial house. One day these spirits killed one of the Sun's male relatives and drank his blood, after which they stretched themselves out against the wall of the house and turned back into wood. Angered by their act, the Sun ascended into the sky while the yipwon remained on earth as patron spirits of warfare and hunting. Large yipwon images such as this one were owned collectively by clans, while smaller portable examples were individually owned and served as amulets, carried in net bags by their owners to bring success in hunting and battle.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figure (Yipwon)
  • Date: 19th century or earlier
  • Geography: Papua New Guinea, East Sepik Province, Korewori River
  • Culture: Yimam people
  • Medium: Wood
  • Dimensions: H. 86 × W. 19 × D. 7 in. (218.4 × 48.3 × 17.8 cm)
    Other: 18 in. × 5 3/4 in. (45.7 × 14.6 cm)
  • Classification: Wood-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1965
  • Object Number: 1978.412.854
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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1717. Figure (Yipwon)

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