INV. NO. 3039
This carved stone ritual figure from the highlands of New Guinea represents a hybridised form combining elements of a juvenile long-beaked echidna and a human body. The figure is shown resting on its haunches, with its arms placed upon a rounded, swollen belly. This pronounced abdomen, together with the long-curved neck and head - marked by prominent nostrils at the end of an extended beak- departs from the anatomical characteristics of both echidnas and other mammalian forms. Likewise, the triangular-shaped scapulae and the inwardly curving, arched backbone suggest a more overtly human anatomy.(1)
The Wyvern figure is one of only a handful of known extant anthropomorphic stone carvings from this region. It was previously owned by Ron Ingle, a geologist or engineer who worked with Dowsett Engineering Construction Ltd and was based in Laiagam, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, in 1962–63. At that time, Laiagam functioned as a government patrol outpost and mission station in what was then known as the Western Highlands. The identity of the carvers of these objects and the precise date and place of production remain unknown. While most examples have been recovered from the Enga region of Papua New Guinea, related stones have also been found in the Southern Highlands, as well as in Oro and Madang provinces to the east. (2) The Wyvern example bears a particularly striking resemblance to the most famous example of this group: the Ambum Stone, held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 2022, a conservation project undertaken on the Ambum Stone followed its accidental breakage into three large sections during an overseas exhibition. One of these fractures revealed a small quantity of plant matter which, after radiocarbon analysis, was dated to approximately 1500 BC.(3) On stylistic grounds, it has been argued that the Wyvern figure was likely created around the same period as the Ambum Stone. (4)
The original function of these pestle-like objects has also been obscured by time. Oral traditions from several locations in the Enga region indicate that they were used in ritual contexts. A resinous substance still visible on the head of the Wyvern figure may provide material evidence of such practices, suggesting the ritual “feeding” of the stone. In his research on these objects Dr Michael Gunn has noted that Engan people today refer to these carvings as “living stones,” believing that they can move and communicate, and that if they are properly cared for - by being fed - the people will thrive and prosper. Neglect, by contrast, is believed to invite destruction. (5)
(1) Dr Michael Gunn, A Remarkable Stone Figure from the New Guinea Highlands, from an unpublished report on the Lingum Stone, undated (after 2014). Dr Gunn was the former curator of Oceanic Art at the Metropolitan Museum and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
(2) ibid.
(3) Beata Tworek-Matuszkiewicz, Analysing the Ambum Stone: Conservation analysis and treatment, National Gallery of Australia (online), 21 April 2022 [https://nga.gov.au/stories-ideas/analysing-the-ambum-stone]
(4) Gunn.
(5) ibid.; M.J. Meggitt, 'The Mae Enga of the Western Highlands' in Peter Lawrence [et al.], Gods, ghosts, and men in Melanesia; some religions of Australian New Guinea and the New Hebrides (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1965), pp.105-131 (pp.114-118).
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