Sago Eating Bowl

Large conical bowl. Coiled construction, carved and painted. Patterns are red, yellowish buff and white, outlined in burnished black. Inside is dark terracotta with smudged areas from firing and what appears to be black paint. An eating bowl, for individual portions of sago pudding. Supported by a woven fiber ring when in use.

Four heart-shaped faces: two yellow with wide borders of repeated crescents and two red with narrow borders, oppositely oriented. All with round eyes and “anchor” noses. Areas between the faces are filled with repeated concentric crescents, paired to form chevron shapes. Border at rim with eight loops. Faces and outlines of their borders are textured with punctate impressions. Curved cracks near center, visible both inside and out.