168. SEPIK TRUMPET, PAPUA NEW GUINEA wood Length 138.5 cm Provenance Lemaire Gallery, Amsterdam See Peltier, p. et al, Sepik: Arts de Papouasie-Nouvelles-Guinée, Paris, 2015, pp.314-5. The author writes: "The trumpets were used to announce to the villagers the glorious return of a headhunt. In the village, the hunters were welcomed with a great celebration. The women went to meet them, seized the heads and danced with them in the square in front of the men's house. These trumpets were sometimes played during this dance in the Middle Sepik. They were also played during the installation on the roof of a men's house of the ridge sculpture that was closely associated with the warlike activity of the village. Finally, the sound of the trumpets signalled the approach of a group of enemies. Sometimes they were played in pairs. The performer vibrated his lips around the opening to produce a long, modulated sound. The horns could be up to two metres long but, most often, they were about forty centimetres long. They are extensively decorated and painted, one end often being carved with an animal or human head".