The facades of the towering Abelam ceremonial houses were traditionally decorated with ancestral designs painted on the broad, flat spathe of the sago palm. This is just such an early example collected by Dr. George Kennedy in the early 1960s. The design is a pair of ancestral faces—probably man and women side by side. This panel was purchased by Jerome Simpson shortly after it was collected by Kennedy and spent nearly twenty years on long-term loan in the UCLA Museum of Cultural History (now known as the Fowler Museum) from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s. This panel is 60" tall by 50" wide, dates to the early/mid 20th century and sells for $3500. Please note that these sago spathe panels are very thin and fragile and are supported on the reverse by a framework of bamboo. There is some expected damage and flaking around the edges and there is a "creakiness" to them. Questions?