Description

Wood sculptural group, carved and painted with yellow, reddish orange and cream pigments, rises from a mound-shaped base with eyes. Tall standing figure with elaborate facial mask is wrapped with snakes; two large ones coiled around its shoulders, another two swallowing its legs and one hangs down from its nose between its legs to end with a huge head at the back. A large spotted bird is perched on two pointed bamboo branches behind the figure's head and two small figures holding pointed spears in each arm stand guard at its feet, one at each side, facing outward. All figures wear grass skirts and have clay topped heads embedded with shell and grass hair. All eyes are shell and strands of twisted rope with attached shells and seeds hang from all noses, ears, necks, wrists and ankles.