Exceptional old Kwoma Yina figure, excellent pigments. (AJB)

A large and superb 1960s hardwood Yina figure representing a specific spirit. This is a classic yina shape from the southern Kwoma centered around the villages of Waskuk and Bangwis. The large, oval, bowl- shaped head , with prominent eyes and a large phallic nose, is supported on a short stake which enables it to stand or lean in front of the mountain of yams displayed in the sprit house during the ceremony . It is painted in ochre pigments in typical Kwoma clan designs, and although the ochres have faded over the years, they are still remarkably intact. Height of Yina carving 122 cm / 48 inches, dimensions of face only 104 x 34cm / 41 x 13 ½ inches.

In the days when custom was strong, there was a cycle of three great Kwoma harvest and fertility ceremonies held every year, each one named for the specific carving made to honor it. The first ceremony was called Yina and was aggressively male, celebrating the procreative strength of the ancestors, the virility of the men of the clan, and the fecundity of the harvest. The typical Kwoma Yina is an oval face supported by a sharpened stake with a large and often obviously phallic nose. The second ceremony was called Minja and was also aggressively male, the Minja carving consisting of a narrow flat board with a stylized face at the top, often with hooks or stylized hornbill beaks above and below. The third ceremony, Nogwe, was quite different and paid homage to the female element, an acknowledgement that no matter how aggressively virile the men of the tribe might be, they could not procreate without the women. The Nogwe figure is blatantly feminine, with prominent breasts and vagina and the tattooed stomach, which was universal among Kwoma women (the tattoos were held to make birthing of a baby easier).

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