Buffalo head door · Indonesia - Sulawesi, Toraja · ID: 3042287
not available anymore
Provenance
German Private Collection, HeidelbergSize
H: 82 cm
B: 54 cm
H: 32.3 inch
B: 21.3 inch
Description
wood, greyish brown patina, massive wooden plank, carved with a buffalo head, slightly dam., abrasion of paint;
the water buffalo symbolizes virility and suggests wealth and status for the Toraja. More or less stylized the motif is universally employed and appears on the houses of the living as well as the dead. The Toraja place the remains of the deceased in small caves in the rock which are sealed by hardwood doors like the present one.