In the Tanimbar Islands, venerated figures were generally carved from wood. However, there was also a deep tradition of using denser sea coral and volcanic tufa to fashion outdoor village guardians, shrines, upright steles, ancestral prows, and diminutive figurines. (See: Forgotten Islands of Indonesia, pages 86, 101, 102, 103.)

Charms were important to the Tanimbarese and were fashioned from diverse materials, including wood, stone, coral, bone, dugong teeth, and varied trade ivory. This one is carved from tufa stone and depicts an exceptional figure. He holds an offering cup in his raised hands and sits astride a giant sea turtle. 

Sea turtles were prized, and catching them was aided by hunting magic. A few figurative charms are known that also feature depictions of turtles. Six of the seven known species of giant turtles live in Indonesia. The largest species, the leatherback, can have a flipper-to-flipper span of 8-9 feet and weigh a whopping 1,300 to nearly 2,000 pounds. In Tanimbar, the turtle is not only valued but honored.