Male ancestor figure "hazi nuwu" or "adu nuwu" ·  Indonesia - eastern South Nias, Batu Islands · ID: 3051098

Description

wood, fabric, base

These figures was probably part of an ancestral altar “daro daro”. The projection on the underside of the pedestal was used to peg the figure into an altar panel, which could be kept simple but could also be very elaborate, e.g. in the shape of a ship (cf. “Nias, Tribal Treasures”, 1999, p. 244, fig. 105 & p. 245, fig. 106).

Small bamboo tubes were tied around the figures (often with strips of red cotton fabric), which contained a number of tiny palmwood sticks, “famaso”.

Comparing literature

Nias, Tribal Treasures, Cosmic reflections in stone, wood and gold, Delft 1990