2001.269.McD Male figure and water buffalo head from a house facade

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION  
This hardwood carving is one of a pair that came from the façade of an aristocratic ancestor house (tongkonan) in Osango, Mamasa Toraja. A male warrior figure is shown astride a water buffalo, a symbol of status and ritual wealth throughout the Toraja area.  The figure wears an elaborate circular collar and an apronlike pendant that hangs from his waist.  Both elements of dress may represent an ancient tradition, as might the chevronlike tattoos on his legs. 

Adapted from
  • "Male figure and water buffalo head from a house façade," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Bonnie Pitman (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven and London: Yale University Press), 119.
  • Roxana Waterson, "Male figure and water buffalo head from a house façade," in Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art, ed.  Reimar Schefold in collaboration with Steven Alpert (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2013), 186.
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UNESCO~Learn about Tana Toraja Traditional Settlements
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General Description
 
This hardwood carving is one of a pair that came from the façade of an aristocratic ancestor house (tongkonan) in Osango, Mamasa Toraja. A male warrior figure is shown astride a water buffalo, a symbol of status and ritual wealth throughout the Toraja area.  The figure wears an elaborate circular collar and an apronlike pendant that hangs from his waist.  Both elements of dress may represent an ancient tradition, as might the chevronlike tattoos on his legs. 

Adapted from
  • "Male figure and water buffalo head from a house façade," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Bonnie Pitman (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven and London: Yale University Press), 119.
  • Roxana Waterson, "Male figure and water buffalo head from a house façade," in Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art, ed.  Reimar Schefold in collaboration with Steven Alpert (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2013), 186.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
 
UNESCO~Learn about Tana Toraja Traditional Settlements
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Cultures
Geography 
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
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RELATED OBJECTS 
PROVENANCE 
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rules
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2001.269.McD
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
sculpture: AAT: 300047090
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
%Archived
carving (processes): AAT: 300053149
male: AAT: 300189559
@Bilal-Gore
wood (plant material): AAT: 300011914
houses: AAT: 300005433
prestige: AAT: 300343604
social status: AAT: 300065206
black (color): AAT: 300130920
ancestors: AAT: 300255718
*Arts of the Pacific Islands
warriors: AAT: 300261945
buffalo (animals): AAT: 300250108
aristocrats: AAT: 300236021
Mamasa: TGN: 1078067
Mamasa Toraja: DMA
white pigment: AAT: 300013723
yellow ochre (pigment): AAT: 300013967
burnt ochre (color): AAT: 300311467
source file
object_notes_4_a-0188.xml.nores