Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Milne Bay Province, Trobriand Islands (sometimes Kiriwina Islands), Massim people, ca. 20th century CE. A beautiful wooden drum, known as a kundu, with a long, gently curved body and a handle carved integrally to one side. The top has lizard skin stretched across it. Carved in relief along the sides are zoomorphic figures - lizards and snakes, but with zoomorphic elements like hands pressed to their faces or into their mouths. Dozens of abalone shell discs are inlaid into the bodies of the animals, who also form the handle, which features serpentine heads at either end. Size: 4.5" W x 31" H (11.4 cm x 78.7 cm); 33.25" H (84.5 cm) on included custom stand.

These drums are made throughout Papua New Guinea, from a variety of local woods, and come in many forms - some dramatically carved like this one, others painted bright colors, and they are made through a complex process of hand-carving and burning that has been repeated for centuries. When in use, blobs of wax, honey, or coal tar are sometimes put onto the skin to alter the drum's sound.

See a very similar-shaped drum at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (ETH26-1973).

Provenance: private Newport Beach, California, USA collection

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#133673

Small area of water staining around the bottom. Roughly 80% of the abalone shells are still present.