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The Brooklyn Museum

Collections: Arts of the Pacific Islands




Male Figure (Bioma)

Male Figure (Bioma). Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Koiravi Village, early 20th century. Wood, pigment, 26 1/2 x 9 in. (67.3 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John W. Vandercook, 51.118.9

This highly animated figure is the work of an exceptionally gifted artist from the Wapo/Era area of the Gulf province of Papua New Guinea. Small silhouette figures of this type, called bioma, are usually placed near the floor within the men's ceremonial house in proximity to trophy skulls of pigs and crocodiles. Characteristically, bioma figures from this area are flat with two sets of limbs, one upraised, one lowered, with ridged edges along the outer sides. The extraordinary vitality of this figure is a result of its having been cut from a curved slab of wood that was probably part of an old canoe. John W. Vandercook, one of the most famous traveler-adventurers and writers of his day, collected the piece in 1929.

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