FIG. 1 (below): Map of the
Middle Sepik, Papua New
Guinea.
© Tribal Art magazine.
92
Representations of birds on
the gables and peaks of public edifi ces are known
in many countries, including in Europe, where
spinning rooster wind vanes have been placed
at the tops of the bell towers of village religious
buildings for centuries. Bird sculptures placed
on the tops of the roofs of communal buildings
are frequently seen in Melanesia—notably in
the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia,
and the Sepik River area of New Guinea.
Painted wooden sculptures of birds with their
wings spread were placed on the extremities of
the ridgepoles of the great communal houses of
Tongoa (the Shepherd Islands Archipelago) in
Vanuatu. These birds symbolized the spirit of
the chief who watched over the village (Hébert,
1965: 20). In the islands northeast of Malekula,
representations of raptors called nambal1 were
associated with the highest rank of the men’s
grade society. They were placed atop the buildings
used for grade ceremonies but at the same
time were symbols of murder (Layard, 1942:
733–734, 751).
This article focuses on the gable sculptures of
the great ceremonial houses of the Sepik Riv-
Gable Sculptures of the Sepik
By Christian Coiffi er
FEATURE