Männliche Ritual-/Ahnenfigur

Male ritual/ancestral figure, probably Atoni (Atoin Meto), Timor, Central/West Timor, Indonesia, 19th century or earlier A strongly abstracted, standing male figure carved from a single piece of hard wood. The figure is depicted frontally, with a massive cylindrical head, a distinctly broad, flat nose, small rounded ears, round eyes, and a small, barely pronounced mouth. The thick neck transitions directly into a wide, compact upper body. The arms are represented as short cylindrical forms pressed close to the body, while the legs are extraordinarily massive and largely devoid of anatomical segmentation. The hands are not detailed. Wide, oversized feet form a stable, almost architectural base. The male genitals are clearly pronounced. The sculpture is characterized by an unusually restrained representation of the human form, with the body reduced more to a set of powerful geometric volumes than to a naturalistic modeled anatomy. The surface shows extensive age-related wear, rounding, and abrasion as well as dark brown to black crusts and patina. A pronounced longitudinal crack runs along the wood grain through the back of the figure, related to the natural shrinking and aging of the wood. The crown has been deliberately flattened and altered. On its top surface there are remnants of a dark, hardened substance, together with lighter residues. These materials could be remnants of a former headpiece, fibers, hair, a ritual bundle, a resinous adhesive, or another ephemeral ritual element. Its exact composition cannot be determined without material analysis. The surviving traces, however, suggest that the head was originally intended to bear an additional element. Its strongly simplified, columnar morphology corresponds more to the strict sculptural vocabulary of Timor’s ritual and ancestral images than to the more elaborately modeled Adu-Zatua figures of the Nias or the generally more segmented ancestral figures of the Batak. Published material on the Atoni also documents the use of wood in combination with fibers, resins, pigments, and other organic materials, as well as the importance of headgear and other adornments in the ritual iconography. The exact function of the figure remains uncertain. It may have represented an ancestor, a protective being, or another ritual figure rather than a purely decorative sculpture. The figure is preliminarily attributed to the Atoni (Atoin Meto) on Timor, particularly the Central/West Timor cultural area. The evidence for Central/West Timor origin is strong, but not secured due to lack of direct comparison objects. Mounted on a Plexiglas base. Origin: old German collection, acquired before 2002; the collection label on the base erroneously lists origin as “Benin, 18th century” and a price of “1890,-” Deutsche Mark. No reference for African origin of the figure could be found. Reference: ANIMISTIC ART of Island Asia, Catalogue 2008, Copyright Thomas Murray, page 82 (https://view.publitas.com/suva-inc/animistic-art-of-island-asia/page/82) Condition: heavy surface wear and patina; natural longitudinal crack from shrinking; missing elements on the original crown/headpiece or accompanying material; on the crown there are remnants of unidentified material. Dimensions: H. 42 cm.

Estimate:$1,102.35

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