MASSIM DOUBLE FIGURE

A related figure of very similar form is in the collection of the Museo Nazionale di Antropologia e Etnologia in Florence (inv. no. 7302; illustrated in Ciruzzi et al., Oceania nera, Florence, 1992, p. 81, cat. no. 38). It was collected in situ in 1898 by Arthur Scheidel, a German engineer who lived in Sydney and travelled extensively in the Pacific. Although larger in size (height: 22 in [56 cm]) it is of lesser sculptural quality than the present lot, which is notable for its expressive quality and the fineness of its deeply incised carving.