Title

Female Figure made by Inyai-Ewa Artist

Description

This object was created through a collaboration between an hunter who envisioned the figure in a dream and a sculptor who was commissioned to create the sculpture. Objects such as this female figure were considered guardians of the game and hunt and played an important role in rituals conducted before hunting expeditions.

Semester

Spring 2026

Subject

Indigenous Art

Morton D. May

Papua New Guinea

Inyai-Ewa Artist

Melanesian

Temporal Coverage

18th to 19th century

Spatial Coverage

East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Language

The item description is English

Medium

This object is made out of wood and clay

Source

Saint Louis Art Museum

https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/7690/

Is Part Of

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Morton D. May

Identifier

146:1975

Provenance

1968
D'Arcy Galleries, New York, NY, USA

1968 - 1975
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from D'Arcy Galleries

1975
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Morton D. May

Explanation of Omeka Map Location

This object originated in Papua New Guinea in the East Sepik Province