Specifications

• Height: 53,5  cm
• Material: wood
• Position: seated
• Gender: male
• Indigenous name: siraha salawa
• Price realised: $ 47.500,-

Provenance

Possibly Ben Brillo, New York 1970s; Alan Stone, New York January 1980, Sotheby’s, New York 15-11-2013, lot 29

Publications

Ref.: Gronert, Walther a.o. (1990), Nias Tribal Treasures, 37 plate 6 and 199, no. 20

Wentholt, Arnold (2014), Nusantara. Highlights from Museum Nusantara Delft, 41

Additional information

Siraha salawa are distant and founding ancestors who protect the house of the nobility for which purpose the statues are commissioned. Siraha means ‘house’ and salawa means ‘chief’. The present item shows resemblance with the siraha salawa formerly held at Museum Nusantara, Delft and could very well be the product of the same artist. These statues are considered a temporary abode for the ancestor’s spirit.

Photo credits

Sotheby’s, New York