An important and unique sculpture, called Maira, from Papua New Guinea, Maprik area, Abelam people, with two-sided decoration, made on a thick and heavy bord. Collected in situ by the late Ulrich Kortmann, from which I obtaibed it. It was situated in a cult house (haus Tambaram) and dates at the end of the 20th. Colors (red & yellow mainly) are stil vivid. No traces of warms. The one side (frontal?) depicts many sculpted ancestral faces, 9 in total, which are framed/surrounded by a snake like decoration. The other side (dorsal?) is also completely painted with spirits, human figures and bird, reminding the polychrome wooden ceiling panels from the Abelam people. Α few light wood losses in places but in excellent overall condition Measures 110 x 37 x 11 x cm and comes with its original metal custom stand-base. Though several Abelam totems and gables come at the market, this one is a masterpiece and a really exceptional piece and could be described as "once in a lifetime ocassion". So, please, bid in accordance of its great ethological and artistic value, as well as of its strong provenance. It will be send from Greece carefully packed in a registered parcel, by ELTA-Hellenic Post