Figural frieze "adu bihara" · Indonesia - Nias · ID: 3040740
sold
EUR 3,000
Provenance
Heinrich Sundermann, Ladbergen/Göttingen, GermanySize
L: 151 cm
H: ca.19 cm
L: 59.4 inch
H: ca.7.5 inch
Description
wood, bamboo, rattan, greyish brown patina, 62 wooden sticks with indicated (“adu zatua”) heads, with rattan fixed to wooden strip, sticks partly missing, dam.;
long strings of sticks made of different types of wood called “priests” figures (“adu bihara”) consist of 50 to 100 finger-sized pieces of wood. The row is kept in the roof beams of a novice priest’s house. The “adu bihara” are used ritually as they are dwelling places for benevolent spirits. They also serve for a practical purpose by acquainting the priest with the types of wood from which images are made (there are up to 30 types of wood used for the images).
Comparing literature
Feldman, Jerome, The eloquent dead, Los Angeles 1985, p. 52