Four Looped Bark-Fiber Carrying Nets

This curated ensemble of four traditional carrying nets, known across Western New Guinea as noken and specifically among the Dani of the Grand Valley of the Baliem as su, originates from the Central Highlands of Papua (historically Irian Jaya), Indonesia. Constructed without knots or needles using the archaic single-element hourglass or figure-eight looping technique, each bag is worked from hand-spun two-ply cordage rolled on the maker's thigh from scraped inner tree bark fibers or shredded bark cloth. Two of the bags rely exclusively on an earthen palette achieved through traditional Dani dyeing methods - rubbing the bast cordage with baked red clay, yellow-orange curcuma root, and dark vegetal or mud pigments - worked in alternating open and densely looped bands. The third example features a display side embellished with concentric registers of glossy golden-yellow, cream, and deep maroon strips spirally wound around the core bast cordage prior to looping, while its reverse side retains a predominantly brown ground with sparse yellow shoulder accents. The fourth bag illustrates material syncretism by wrapping the dark brown bark-fiber cordage with vivid polychrome synthetic raffia strips in sky blue, coral red, magenta, cream, and emerald green across its primary face and sparse flecking on the reverse. Measuring 100 x 70 cm for the largest elongated chevron example and scaling down to approximately half that size for the smallest bag in the group, the four pieces together have a combined weight of 1.7 kg. Tactile and pliant, the hand-plied bast fibers exhibit a dry, fibrous texture softened along the integrated forehead straps by repeated handling. In traditional Dani society, the wide-mouthed su is both an indispensable utilitarian vessel - suspended from the tumpline across the forehead to drape down the back for transporting sweet potatoes, garden produce, firewood, and infants - and a visible emblem of diligence and social identity. The final two contextual photographs in the gallery, captured in situ in 1993, document Dani women wearing directly comparable su suspended from the forehead while tending a steaming earth oven (shown for ethnographic reference only). All four examples remain structurally sound and flexible, displaying honest signs of ethnographic field use. Specific condition characteristics include natural tonal mellowing of the earth and root pigments, localized stretching and minor distortion of the open-looped mesh, light surface fraying along the rolled mouth margins, and a small localized loop separation near the upper left strap transition of the yellow-embellished bag, while the spirally wrapped yellow and polychrome decorative elements remain securely anchored around the bast cords. Brought together as a comparative group, these four noken (su) capture the continuity of Highland New Guinea's ancient knotless netting tradition alongside its creative incorporation of modern trade materials. Their graphic chevron geometry, warm earthen tonality, and authentic handling patina make the ensemble an instructive textile study for collections of Oceanic and Indonesian tribal art. PROVENANCE Property from the Estate of a German biologist and naturalist (field-collected in situ, Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 1993). Thence by descent to the present owner.

Utropspris:SEK 11.04

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