Papua New Guinea Wood Bow & 14 Arrows (Auction 2026-06-05, Lot 159)

$257.00

Oceania, Papua New Guinea, ca. mid to late 20th century CE. A Papua New Guinea longbow of dark hardwood, its stave simply curved and bound at the nock, accompanied by fourteen arrows representing a range of hunting and fighting types: reed and bamboo shafts tipped with barbed hardwood points, a broad leaf-shaped blade lashed at the foreshaft with woven fiber, simple fire-hardened points, and one foreshaft carved with incised decoration filled with white pigment in the recessed areas. The variety of point types within a single quiver reflects the practical versatility expected of a hunter-warrior’s kit in the highlands and lowland regions of Papua New Guinea, where arrow typology often encoded both function and the maker’s regional identity. Size of largest (bow): 1.3″ W x 65.9″ H (3.3 cm W x 167.4 cm H)

Provenance: private Park City, Utah, USA collection

Condition: Fair. Bow string is broken and detached. Some chips, wear, and loosening to arrows. Nice patina throughout.