Female ancestor figure "adu zatua" ·  Indonesia - Nias · ID: 3040763

Description

wood, greyish brown partly encrusted patina, with female ear ornaments and indicated loincloth, arms in front of the chest produce a “W” configuration, holding a cup in both hands, headband with conical points, crown broken (?), slightly dam.;
such smaller “adu zatua” figures were lashed with rattan strings to horizontal bars. Such rows were placed against the wall in the big front room of the house. Each time a person in the family died, a new image was added. Much has been speculated about the transfer of the soul of the deceased to the “adu zatua”. Acccording to old missionaries reports the last breath of a dying person was captured in a bamboo tube and transferred to an “adu zatua” image.