1995.3 Figure of a buffalo (pinetau)

These small male and female figures are called pinetau or tau tau, which means "little person." This is the same name that is given to the funerary figures of the Toraja area. Pairs of these figures reportedly functioned as gifts in marriage negotiations, as amulets to ward off misfortune, and as fertility objects for a newly married couple. The human figures were sometimes accompanied by the figure of a water buffalo, also called pinetau, which is an amulet for agricultural fertility.

Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, 2013.

From 1973: Steven G. Alpert, Dallas, Texas

1995: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from above

Notes:

The main source for this provenance is the copy of the Deed of Gift in the Collections Records object file (1995.3).

Apply to objects where number equals 1995.3