Seated Female Figure

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Culture Asmat

Title Seated Female Figure

Date Before 1913

Medium Wood, pigment, seeds, and and fiber

Dimensions Object: 22 1/2 × 6 1/2 × 5 7/8 in. (57.2 × 16.5 × 14.9 cm)
Overall (includes mount): 23 3/4 × 7 1/4 × 7 3/8 in. (60.3 × 18.4 × 18.7 cm)

Credit Line Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2010.10

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About this Work

Commemorative figures such as this distinctive carving typically honor important ancestors and were commissioned from a master woodcarver, usually by a family member. This figure’s dramatic elbows-to-knees and hands-to-chin pose is frequently seen in Asmat art and has many references: it can represent the posture of birth and death, symbolize head-hunting practices, and connect to Asmat creation beliefs.

Provenance
More Details

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Seated Female Figure | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2010.10