Yipwon overview

Yipwon come in two main sizes.  There is the one made for the house  or houseman and the one you carry as a charm.  They both contain the same power but one is a individual power where as the other is the clans power.

The Face on a great Yipwon should be sublime with a feeling of presence. The Hooks of a great Yipwam should be elegant and refined. 

Picasco would have appreciated a great Yipwon because it captures the human form in a highly impressionistic way.

if you have a Yipwon and would like to know if it is an older worshipped object or a made for sale later example please feel free to send me images.

Background on Yipwon

Across the hills south of the middle Sepik River in northeastern Papua New Guinea, various communities, including the Alamblak people, created works in a distinctive artistic style known as the “opposed-hooks” style. This style is characterized by curved, pointed hooks arranged along a vertical axis around a central design. One of the most elegant manifestations of this style are the anthropomorphic hook figures, known as yipwon, crafted by the Alamblak people. These figures are are visually striking and ones made for worship are highly collectable

According to local oral traditions, the origins of the yipwon are tied to the Sun spirit, who once inhabited the earth. As the Sun carved the first slit gong drum the pieces of the wood that were chipped off came to life as spirits. These splinters of wood cried as they spun through the air giving birth to the bull roarer the voice of the sporit. These spirits lived with the Sun in the men’s ceremonial house. One day, however, these spirits killed one of the Sun’s male relatives and drank his blood. In response, the Sun, enraged by their actions, ascended into the sky, while the yipwon spirits remained on earth, becoming powerful guardians and patron spirits of hunting and warfare.

There are many later Yipwon often carved by Alamblak people made for sale and not worship.  These tend to stray from the original style and are often artificially blackened or made to look older than they are.  These later made for sale pieces are not nearly as collectable or valuable and some are quite convincing and still often have artistic merit.

Clan Yipwons

Large yipwon figures, such as those from the Alamblak villages along the Karawari River, were collectively owned by clans. These large sculptures were placed in the men’s ceremonial house and acted as vessels for the spirits, who were called into the figures before a hunt or raid. Offerings were made to the yipwon to summon the spirits, who would then venture out during the night to kill the souls and sap the spirits of game animals or human enemies, making it easier for the hunters to find and kill their targets the following day. If successful, the yipwon was offered a portion of the kill or smeared with the victim’s blood as a sign of gratitude. If the yipwon failed repeatedly, it was discarded.

Personal Yipwon

In contrast, smaller portable versions of the yipwon served as personal amulets. These smaller figures were carried by their owners in net bags, bringing luck and success in hunting and warfare. While large yipwon figures were typically kept in the ceremonial house, smaller figures were private, personal items. There are more made for sale charms than full sized Yipwon often blackened over the fire by the carver prior to sale.

 Opposed hook Figures

The yipwon figures are highly stylized, yet the head and single leg are portrayed in a relatively naturalistic manner but at unnatural proportion. The central section of the body is made up of a series of concentric, opposed hooks, representing the ribs, which are rotated 90 degrees from their usual position. These hooks surround a central element symbolizing the heart where your soul is believed to reside.. The purpose of these figures is to connect the external physical world with the internal spiritual realms, with the body of the figure serving as a conduit for the spirit.