Online catalogue for the 55th tribal art auction
1 Rice deity "bulul"
Philippines - Ifugao
wood, black encrusted patina, rising from a massive, indented base, dressed with an apron, broad shoulders merging into free worked, slightly angled arms with big hands, a short neck supporting an oval head with regular facial features and big pierced ears, min. dam., cracks, small missing parts, slight signs of abrasion; the "bulul" rice gods should guarantee a good harvest. They are said to be able to increase the quantity of rice both before and after it is stored in the granary. Aside of this, "bulul" is in fact a generic term for types of consecrated images.
H: 45 cm
H: 17.7 inch
Provenance
collected in situ 1970
Private Collection, Switzerland
Literature
Newton, Douglas (ed.), Arts of the South Seas, The Collection of the Musée Barbier-Mueller, München/London/New York 1999, p. 156, ill. 16
Price: 1200 - 1800 €
2 Rice god "bulul"
This object is not available any more.
Philippines - Ifugao
wood, reddish brown patina with residues of black paint, rising from a high, waisted base, strong legs supporting a trapezoid trunk, flattened to the front and flanked by long arms, a massive neck with indicated Adam's apple carrying a narrow head with a short, straight cut chin, the facial features concentrated on a small area, enclosed by big ears, arranged in a flat curve, the eyes inset with teeth (?), dam., cracks, the surface showing traces of insect caused damage, minor missing parts (forehead)
H: 52,5 cm
H: 20.7 inch
Provenance
Rudolf Kratochwill, Graz, Austria
Literature
Newton, Douglas (Hg.), Arts of the South Seas, The Collection of the Musée Barbier-Mueller, München, London, New York 1999, p. 154 f.
Sold.
3 Drum money "mokko"
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia, Alor
bronze, dark patina, hourglass-shaped, corpus decorated with floral motifs, upper part with four open worked handles, min. dam., slight signs of corrosion and usage; the inhabitants of the island Alor had a very high developed financial system until the year 1914. Besides pigs and gongs, "mokkos" served as money. They were an important part of the brial price.
H: 43,5 cm, ~ 1800-1850
H: 17.1 inch, ~ 1800-1850
Literature
Greifenstein, Ute I., Fremdes Geld, Tauschmittel und Wertmesser außereuropäischer Gesellschaften, Ausst.kat., Frankfurt am Main o.J., p. 71
Price: 700 - 1100 €
4 Drum money "mokko"
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia, Alor
bronze, dark patina, hourglass-shaped, consisting of three parts, corpus decorated with floral ornaments, upper part with four handles, min. dam., slight signs of corrosion and usage
H: 46,5 cm, ~ 1800-1850
H: 18.3 inch, ~ 1800-1850
Literature
Schleich, Herman H., Muscheln, Salz und Kokosnüsse, Wuppertal 2000, p. 35
Price: 700 - 1100 €
5 Keris hilt
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia - Sumatra, Batak
ivory, honey brown patina, slightly curved, carved with elaborate floral ornaments, min. dam., fissures, small missing part; "keris" is a dagger found over a large part of the indonesian archipelago with an almost endless variety of blades, hilts, scabbards and decoration. The "keris" always has an asymmetric double-edged blade broadening to the hilt.
L: 13 cm
L: 5.1 inch
Price: 300 - 450 €
6 Shaman ritual figure
Malaysia - Sarawak, Melanau - Dayak
wood, stylized forms, sitting on a half-circular base, both hands raised up to the ears, giving the body a block-like contour, crowned by an elaborate head crest, the figure entirely coated with diamond-shaped ornaments on the back, inscribed "M-025", slightly dam., cracks (crest, face, leg zone and base), minor missing parts, on metal plate
H: 39 cm
H: 15.4 inch
Provenance
Coll. August Flick, Cologne, Germany
Literature
B. Sellato, Hornbill and Dragon, Singapore 1989, p. 224
Price: 500 - 1000 €
7 Anthropomorphic masc
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia - Borneo, Dayak
wood, painted in black, red and white, of oval hollowed form, a curved sharp-edged line separating the forehead from a concave hollowed facial plane, dominated by half-spherical bulging eyes with deeply grooved rim and pierced centre, flanking a short nose with bowed nostrils, the mouth with extremely protruding lower lip revealing two rows of teeth and the tongue tip inbetween, bamboo stick backside for supporting the mask with the mouth, old collection label backside "K-40", slightly dam., small missing part, paint rubbed off, on metal base
H: 22,5 cm
H: 8.9 inch
Provenance
Francois Coppens, Brussels, Belgium
Private Collection, The Netherlands
Sold.
8 Earring
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia - Borneo, Dayak
brass, showing an open-worked zoomorphic form, min. dam., slight signs of abrasion; such earrings were worn by men, originally headhunters.
H: 4,5 cm ; B: 3,5 cm
H: 1.8 inch ; B: 1.4 inch
Provenance
Private Collection, Stuttgart, Germany
Literature
Borneo, The Dayak in the Francois Coppens Collection, Musée de Solutré, 1996, p. 8
Sold.
9 Sitting male ancestor figure "adu zatua"
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia - Nias
wood, black patina, in some areas encrusted with clay, a table-shaped base, two bamboo-like struts forming the seat, the figure arranged frontal, in a strongly symmetrical posture, both arms angled free aside the body, with big and strong hands holding a staff and a mug, carved with a necklace, earring and crown, the latter with vertical notched central piece, flanked by coiled fern ornaments ("ni'o wöli wöli"), accentuated cut facial features, slightly dam., paint rubbed off, minor missing part (earring), on metal plate; the people of Nias believed that the spirits of the dead possessed supernatural powers and were capable of influencing the living in a positive or a negative way. They thus thought to appease and influence them by honouring "adu zatua", wooden images carved in their likeness.
H: 43,5 cm
H: 17.1 inch
Provenance
Coll. Werner Muensterberger, New York, USA
Private Collection, Washington D. C., USA
Coll. Michael Grebanier, San Francisco, USA
Published in
Traditional Art of Indonesia, May 19 - June 17, 1978, J. Camp Associates, Ltd., West Broadway, New York
Literature
Nias, Tribal Treasures, Cosmic reflections in stone, wood and gold, Delft 1990, p. 243, ill. 102
Capistrano-Baker, Florina, Art of Island Southeast Asia, The Fred and Rita Richman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1994, p. 78, ill. 38
Price: 4000 - 6000 €
10 Phalliform ancestor figure
This object is not available any more.
Indonesia - Sulawesi, Toraja
heavy, beige-coloured stone, a cylindrical block, flattened on both sides, tapering towards the base, eyes, nose and mouth indicated, the neck slightly indented, slightly dam.; the double-entendre of ancestor as phallus is a symbolic equation with fertility and continuity.
H: 81 cm
H: 31.9 inch
Provenance
Coll. August Flick, Cologne, Germany
Literature
Barbier-Mueller, Messages in Stone, 1998, pl. 3
Sold.
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