Asmat Boar Tusk Armlet

Asmat people, early to mid-20th century, Upper Brazza River Area, Papua, Indonesia

Striking old boar tusk armlet, composed of two beautifully curved tusks expertly bound together with hand-twisted vegetal fibre (fum) to form a powerful circular ornament. Such armlets were traditionally worn by Asmat men as symbols of strength, status, and success in hunting.

The Asmat inhabit the swampy lowlands of southwestern Papua, a region crisscrossed by rivers and rich in timber, sago palms, and forest game. The people are organised into twelve culturally related sub-groups, each maintaining a shared artistic tradition and communal identity. Villages consist of family houses (tsyem) and at least one large men’s house (jeu), the ceremonial centre of social and spiritual life.

Renowned worldwide for their dramatic wood sculpture, the Asmat are also remembered for their former practices of warfare and headhunting—ritual activities believed to maintain cosmic balance and honour the ancestors. These traditions drew international attention after the 1961 disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, later explored in Carl Hoffman’s Savage Harvest.

The Asmat have long practised animism, viewing their world as inhabited by spirits of ancestors and natural forces. Rituals, carving, and warfare once formed an integrated system aimed at restoring harmony between people, spirits, and the environment.

Good condition. Wear commensurate with age and use. Small chip and abrasion. Size approx. 9,0cm x 10,0cm x 1,5cm.

Provenance: From a Dutch private collection; reportedly originally from the holdings of a now-closed ethnographic museum and foundation in the Netherlands.

For a similar example see:

Armlet, The British Museum, Accession Number: Oc1936,0720.215 (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1936-0720-215)

Arm Band, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 1978.412.1369 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/311818)

Bracelet, Pace, Stichting Papua Erfgoed, Accession Number: EA/21/13 (https://www.papuaerfgoed.org/en/EA/21/13)

References and further reading:

The Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress, Tobias Schneebaum, Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine, December 1982.

Oceania, Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Peter and Kathleen Van Arsdale, ed. by Terence Hays, G.K. Hall & Company, 1991.

Asmat Art: Seventy years of Asmat woodcarving, Simon Kooijman, Pacific Arts Newsletter No.4, January 1977, pp. 9-11.

Art and Culture of the Asmat, Holmes Museum of Anthropology, Wichita States University, 2021.

Headhunting Practises of the Asmat of Netherlands New Guinea, Gerard A. Zegwaard, American Anthropologist New Series, Vol.61, No.6, December 1959, pp. 1020-1041.

"The Asmat", In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Emily Caglayan, Ph.D., Department of Art History, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-, October 2004.

Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art, Carl Hoffman, Publisher William Morrow, 2014.