2006.4 Shield (balulang)

Whether this shield’s imagery records real events or is simply the product of an artist’s lively imagination is unknown. The meanings of the colors and some of the motifs, however, can be interpreted. The cardinal points are represented by four elemental colors. White (north) and yellow (east) are associated with the creator god Puang Matua and the deities, and with the life-enhancing Rites of the East. Red (south) and black (west), on the other hand, are associated with the ancestors and the mortuary Rites of the West. The two sunbursts resembling hypnotic eyes and the fowls painted on the yellow panel are associated with the heavens.

The Toraja made two types of shields: those to use in warfare or raids and those to display in mock combat or war dances. This painted buffalo-hide shield was probably made for ceremonial purposes. It was most likely part of a costume worn by performers of the pa’randing warriors’ dance, which serves as a mark of status at high-ranking funerals.

Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, 2013.

Probably between 1904-1909: Collected by Johannes Benedictus van Heutzs [1]

n.d.: Presented to Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands (r. 1890-1948)

n.d.: Legermuseum, Leiden, The Netherlands [2] [3]

n.d.: Loed van Bussel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

n.d.: Yellin collection, Santa Monica, California

2006: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Pacific American Corp. (Steven G. Alpert), Dallas, Texas [4]

Notes:

The main source for this provenance is the Acquisition Proposal in the Collections Records object file (2006.4).

[1] After the Aceh Wars ended in 1903, van Heutzs became Governor General of the Dutch East Indies from 1904-1909. He probably collected the shield during that period.

[2] The collection of the Legermuseum, Leiden, was moved to new premises, the Legermuseum, Delft, which opened in 1989. The Legermuseum, Delft, was merged with the Militaire Luchtvaart Museum, Soesterberg, in 2013, and the new museum was opened as the Nationaal Militar Museum in 2014.

[3] The shield was deaccessioned because it was tribal.

[4] See the copy of the document titled "Statement" dated February 23, 2006, in the Collections Records object file (2006.4).

Apply to objects where number equals 2006.4