A rare standing figure from the Yuat River area of Papua New Guinea was the star of the show at the sale of tribal art held in Brussels by Cologne auction house Lempertz (25% buyer’s premium) on September 2.
The 21in (53cm) high figure (left) with its large head, hunched shoulders and flexed legs is characteristic for the Biwat people. Neighbouring tribes also called them mundugumor, a name that became widely known in the 1930s after a visit by the American anthropologist Margaret Read. Freestanding figures are relatively uncommon but they are closely related to the so-called flute stoppers (wusear) which were central to the cult ceremonies of the mundugumor.