Louis Ledoux: Papua New Guinea Collection

Bullroarer Musical Instrument

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Start price: $100

Estimated price: $200 - $300

Buyer's premium: 28%

Sales Tax: On buyer's premium only

Bullroarer, simple, plain design.

Bullroarers are used as musical instruments, as the blade howls or roars when it is whirled through the air with the attached string. In Papua New Guinea, bullroarers may be used in funerary or initiation rite, and may be believed to recreate spirit voices. They are kept in the men’s ceremonial houses.

Locale: Lower Sepik River
Country: Papua New Guinea

Date: 1936 or earlier
Material: Wood, fiber
Dimensions: H 14" x W 3 1/2"

Provenance: Louis Pierre Ledoux Collection

Sources:
National Music Museum of the University of South Dakota
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 684. New York City. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/504985