Preliminary identification
Photo reference
5 uploaded photos
Overview
This is a hand-carved wooden storyboard panel depicting a traditional village scene with figures, stilt houses, and local wildlife. It features deep relief carving highlighted with natural white lime pigment and reddish ochre earth tones, typical of the artistic traditions of the Sepik River basin.
Story
Kambot village artists transformed ancient, sacred house-post carvings into portable wooden storyboards in the 1960s. This allowed them to share their oral histories, myths, and daily village life with the outside world.
Maker / Origin
Created by an anonymous master carver from the Sepik River region, where woodcarving is a vital spiritual and social practice. Sepik carvers are renowned globally for their ability to translate complex tribal cosmologies and ancestral relationships into expressive, stylized physical forms.
Condition & Value
The piece shows minor age-related cracking, particularly a visible hairline split on the bottom left edge, and some light scuffing to the white pigment. This natural weathering is typical for indigenous hardwood carvings and does not significantly hurt the value, though stable preservation is recommended.
Full Research
Sold comps, value drivers, and venue guidance pulled from recent auction results.
Build on this identification
Layer in sold comps, value drivers, and venue guidance.
Comparable demand stays strongest where maker, originality, and venue confidence line up. Broader examples still trade, but the range tightens quickly when provenance, condition, or selling lane fit is missing.
Best Venue
Specialty auction or a focused dealer with buyers already in this lane.
Signed example with light edge wear and original frame.
Comparable format with stronger provenance and cleaner surface.
Smaller related piece with visible craquelure and trimmed margins.
Period match with softer condition and weaker subject matter.
Close market lane comp with similar material and presentation.