Bowl

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Origin Sepik River

Title Bowl

Date 19th century

Medium Wood and incrustation

Dimensions Object: 4 1/4 × 26 1/4 × 11 1/2 in. (10.8 × 66.7 × 29.2 cm)
Overall: 4 1/4 x 26 1/4 x 11 1/2 in. (10.8 x 66.7 x 29.2 cm)

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

Accession Number 2010.25

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About this Work

Artists of the Sepik River region created beautiful and refined objects for daily use. While bowls for ceremonial pigment were also created, based upon its size and form this object was probably used as a food bowl. Serving staple foods such as sago or yam, food bowls often included sculptural forms, such as the crocodile heads seen here, that related to the owner and their community. The heads themselves would have been used as handles for the bowl.

Provenance
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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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"Bowl | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2010.25