Figure Item Number: 3488/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Carved wooden figure of a female giving birth. The woman’s entire body is thin and long. She is leaning backwards and her head is sticking straight out from her shoulders. She has an angular face, with bulging eyes, a prominent brow and short, wide nose. Her cheeks are hollow, mouth is wide open and her chin is jutting out. Wide, oval-shaped ears on either side of her head, with large holes in their centres. Hair fibres are nailed to the top of head, sticking up and curving backward slightly. The hair around her forehead is braided. The woman is kneeling, with her knees spread out and her hands hovering over them. The baby is protruding from beneath her woven plant fibre skirt, wrapped high around her waist. Child has an oval-shaped mouth and eyes, and a long, wide nose.
The pair of figures (3488/1-2) were given as gifts to the donor in 1995 when she worked in the area of Wamena, in Papua, on the island of New Guinea. The style suggests they may have originated in the area of West Papua.