Historical information

Wooden artefacts from the Sepik River region in Papua New Guinea. Different tribes living along the river produce magnificent wood carvings, clay pottery and other art and craft. Kundu is the Papuan general name used for drum. It is an hour glass shaped drum made of wood with a snake's skin as membrane. A handle is placed on the narrowest part of the drum. Often, the kundu is decorated with animal figures on its edges. - donated by John Nelson TAYLOR QX25010,2900269,3108420 who served in the AIF 19/1/1941 to 7/12/1945 - Regular Army Special Reserve 30/1/1952 to 29/1/1955 and the CMF 1/8/1959 to 2/1/1960. Rank on final discharge - Trooper 8/13 Victorian Mounted Rifles. John was deployed overseas to New Guinea from 17/10/1943 to 23/2/1945 and 5/5/1945 to 26/10/1945 and served in Korea and Japan from 5/3/1953 to 6/4/1954. A member of the Wangaratta RSL he passed away in January, 2021.

Significance

Wooden artefacts from the Sepik River region in Papua New Guinea. The Sepik area is well known for its sculpture masks shields and other artifacts. Many tribes use drums in rituals.

Physical description

Two decorative wooden face masks, one wooden Drum and one wooden Crocodile