MAMASA
ANCESTOR
FIGURE
C E N T R A L S U L A W E S I
MAMASA ANCESTOR FIGURE
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18th-19th century
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Tanah Toraja, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia
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Toraja peoples
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Wood
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Approximately 51 cm (20 in)
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Field collected in Mamasa, Tanah Toraja in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Private American collection.
A highly emotive, supernatural figure that embodies the interior force one encounters in the highest art of the Toraja peoples of central Sulawesi. Though but few exemplars remain, such small statues, figures riding horses, or carved mythical animals were once part of elaborate memorial shrines to the south and east of Mamasa.
This exceptionally powerful and sensitive figure is a rare relic from a tradition where only a humble selection of pieces of this scale and quality have survived. A monumental example related to this sculptural tradition can be found in the Thomas Jaffe collection at Yale University Art Gallery.
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