Object Notes

This hardwood carving is one of a pair that came from the façade of an aristocratic ancestor house (

For centuries the Toraja people have buried their elite dead in tombs cut into the face of steep limestone cliffs – “the house from which no smoke rises.” The entrances are sealed with almost square wooden doors carved with the image of the head of a water buffalo or, less frequently, a human guardian figure.

Mawa’ are magic cloths painted by a ritual specialist. They are painted prayers to help ensure continued abundance, wealth, and reproductive success. 

The Toraja carve tau-tau, smaller than life-size funerary figures, to commemorate high-ranking deceased. Only members of the highest-ranking aristocracy are permitted to have permanent tau-tau.

In 1853, building on the international success of his celebrated statue