This is a Southern Abelam lightwood "notu" headdress worn by men during the public ceremony after male initiation. Notu such as this are brightly painted, festooned with feathers around the edge and worn behind a man's head while being paraded in front of the crowd. This example has very fine carving with the central section containing an ancestral "nggwal" ancestral face carved in the round and the top is two nicely composed hornbill birds. The age and extensive use of this piece is evidenced by very good pigments, in layers, remaining. The notu is 40 ½" in height, dates to the 1930/40s. sold