Napa dance wand Nendo people, Temotu Province, Santa Cruz Island, Solomon Islands Wood, ochre, black ochre Early 20th century 36 by 3 inches (91.5 by 7.5 cm) Ex private collection, CA, ex. David Bromwell collection, Bolinas, CA An unusually large napa dance wand in the form of a highly stylized canoe, tapering to a point at one end. Two raised ancestor heads are incorporated into the geometric linear patterns in black and red. The handle has a rectangular suspension lug, typical of earlier examples, and there are three longitudinal cracks, the result of the multiple strikes that occur during the napa dance. cf. Hurst, N., Power and Prestige: The Arts of Island Melanesia and the Polynesian Outliers, Hurst Gallery, 1996. $3200
