Provenance:

The Milton (1932-2011) and Adele Ward Collection, New York, acquired in Indonesia in the 1970s.

Bequeathed to the Couse Foundation in 2019.

Beginning in 1974, the collector/s traveled to Tembagapura, a district in Mimika, province of Papua, New Guinea, one of the sites of the Freeport-Indonesia Minerals Company. Tembagapura is an urban village built to support the Ertsberg copper mine and Grasberg gold mine. Asmat carvers brought their pieces to Tembagapura, where their art was displayed on a table in a shed and an expatriate acted as agent, taking care of sales to collectors. Milton was president of Freeport McMoran, Indonesia when these pieces were acquired.