Wuvulu (formerly Matty Island), Papua New Guinea
Wood
6,5 x 24,8 x 39,5 cm

Provenance:
Galerie Voyageurs & Curieux, Paris (December 2009)
Property from a Princely collection

Published:
Jean-Edouard Carlier, Micronésie et Para-Micronésie, Paris, 2007, p.61, cat.43 (ill.)

This type of dish, known as Apia nie, to be found on Wuvulu, are used specifically to collect coconut milk. Older dishes like the one presented here obtained their delicate glossy patina from the coconut oil. Apia nie strikingly reflect the pure and minimalistic aesthetics of Micronesian art.
In his description of a similar dish from his collection, auctioned in 1978, George Ortiz wrote: "The most successful form for a dish ever made in any civilisation, of masterful abstract and pure line. The relationship of curve and plane, of solidity and lightness, of strength and elegance to its form creates a volume which is a great sculpture - a sheer delight to the eyes, a homage of man to space. "
George Ortiz, The George Ortiz Collection of Primitive Works of Art, Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, 29 June 1978, lot 86, pp. 76-77