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  • Bird Funerary Figure, Central Vietnam, 1900-1940

    The Vietnamese funerary pieces featured in our collection, dating from the 1960’s or earlier, were sculpted from local wood (ironwood) for burial sites of the Jarai (also called Gia Rai) people, an ethnic minority group in Vietnam’s central highlands known for their elaborate funerals. Ancestor worship plays a big role in their traditional culture. Most figurative sculpture produced there was used in ancestral and funerary rites.

    Such sculptures typically depict humans, animals and often  birds. Peacocks perched on elephant tusks are a special motif. For the animist Jarai, burial rites are important to ensure the soul’s safe passage to the next world where it will join the ranks of the deified spirits of ancestors. Traditional Jarai tombs are small huts containing offerings surrounded by wooden pillars which are topped by such animal/human/bird carvings - avatars of spiritual guardians during and after the funerary ceremony.

    Representing animal spirits and providing a symbolic link to the heavenly realm of the netherworld, bird sculptures are prominent at these burial sites. After the funeral  ceremony the graves are ritually abandoned to allow both the living and the dead to move on. The site is reclaimed by nature, and the sculpted images are left to disintegrate.

    620,960
    Price On Request
  • Baby carrier 1, Orang Ulu culture, Borneo, early 20th century

    Baby carrier, Orang Ulu people of the Kenyah tribe, Northeastern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, early 20th century. Beadwork, shells, rattan, antique bells, wild boar tusk.

    Intricately beaded and embellished baby carriers are used by Orang Ulu women to carry their young infants. Large beads and bells are typically attached to the upper rim of the carrier, serving both to indicate status and to soothe the toddler with their tinkling. For the Orang Ulu rank and its associated symbolism are serious to cement their place in their community.  

    1065,960
    Price On Request
  • Baby carrier 1, backside
    1323,960
    Price On Request
  • SOLD
    732,960
    Sold
  • Xingu Amazon Indian Mask, Matto Grosso Brazil, date unknown
    570,960
    Price On Request
  • Female Tau Tau, Sulawesi
    544,960
    Price On Request
  • Opera Puppet 1, Southern China, ca. 1920's
    720,960
    Price On Request
  • SOLD
    768,960
    Sold
  • Funerary effigy (Tau Tau), Sulawesi, Indonesia, 1940 or earlier
    603,960
    Price On Request
  • Bride price (Talipun), Middle Sepik/Maprik, Papua New Guinea, 1930's
    612,960
    Price On Request
  • Funerary Sculpture, wood, Sulawesi, ca. 1930
    652,960
    Price On Request
  • Kabiru cutting board, Sumba, Indonesia, n.d.
    These elaborately carved and decorated panels were used in Sumba for sorting and cutting cotton
    768,960
    Price On Request
  • SOLD
    725,960
    Sold
  • Marionette Puppet, Southern China, date unknown
    720,960
    Price On Request
  • Antique tiger shadow puppet/wayang kulit, Java Indonesia
    Antique tiger shadow puppet/wayang kulit, leather, bamboo, paint, Java, Indonesia
    840,960
    Price On Request
  • Opera Puppet 3, Southern China, ca. 1920's
    674,960
    Price On Request
  • Spirit figure, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
    498,960
    Price On Request
  • Opera Puppet 2, Southern China, ca. 1920's
    720,960
    Price On Request
  • Soul ship, wood, Sarawak, Borneo

    The Dayak people of Borneo believe that a ship carries the souls of the dead to the afterlife, and that a 'good' death marks the beginning of the journey to join the ancestors

    1275,960
    Price On Request
  • Naga dragon head, symbol of the underworld, Kayan culture, Borneo
    1135,960
    Price On Request
  • Naga dragon head, detail
    1277,960
    Price On Request
  • Kuda Lumping, braided bamboo and paint, Java, ca. 1960's
    Kuda Lumping (“flat horse”) is a traditional Javanese dance originated from Ponorogo, East Java, depicting a group of horsemen. Dancers "ride" horses made from woven bamboo and decorated with colorful paints and cloth. Generally, the dance portrays troops riding horses, but another type of Kuda Lumping performance also incorporates trances and magic tricks. 
    1336,960
    Price On Request
  • Male Tau Tau Figure, Toraja, Sulawesi
    579,960
    Price On Request
  • Funerary guardian/peacock, Gia Rai culture, Vietnam, ca. 1940's

    The pieces featured here was sculpted from ironwood or other local hardwood for burial sites of the Jarai (also Gia Rai) people, an ethnic minority group in Vietnam’s central highlands known for their elaborate funerals. 

    Traditional Gia Rai tombs are small huts containing offerings surrounded by wooden pillars which are topped by such animal or human image carvings - avatars of spiritual guardians during and after the funerary ceremony. Representing animal spirits and providing a symbolic link to the heavenly realm of the netherworld, peacock sculptures are prominent at these burial sites. 

    After the funeral  ceremony the graves are ritually abandoned to allow both the living and the dead to move on. The site is reclaimed by nature, and the sculpted images are left to disintegrate.

     

    406,960
    Price On Request
  • Baby Sling, Peruvian Amazon, natural fiber and carved bone fragments
    The beautiful piece on display here was collected in Peru in the early 1990's but is much older than that. These traditional baby slings are woven by women of the Campa tribe in the Ashaninka territory. The organic cotton is grown in their small forest gardens within the Amazon rainforest. Natural dyes are used to colour the cotton cloth. Seeds collected from many different rainforest plants provide decoration. Carved bones are also traditionally used to adorn baby slings. These are collected from wild animals (usually forest pigs) that Campa men hunt for the tribe to eat. After a baby sling is worn out, the carved bone pendants are typically transferred to a new woven band.
    1307,960
    Price On Request
  • Coffin Fragment, Sarawak, Borneo
    1068,960
    Price On Request
  • Wooden Horse, China, Western Han dynasty (202 BCE - 9 CE)
    791,960
    Price On Request
  • Chinese clay bell, Quin Dynasty (221-207 BC )
    This stunning piece is an example of a tomb offering placed in a mausoleum where the original object, a highly priced ceremonial bronze bell, was replaced by a less expensive alternative made of clay.
    960,960
    Price On Request
  • Ilongot Hornbill Skull Headdress, Northern Luzon, early 20th century
    1205,960
    Price On Request
  • Hornbill sculpture, Kenyalang, Sarawak
    1440,831
    Price On Request
  • Boat Prow, Eastern Malaysian Peninsula, date unknown
    1440,447
    Price On Request
  • Antique shadow puppet/wayang kulit, Java Indonesia
    779,960
    Price On Request
  • Baby carrier 2, Orang Ulu culture, Borneo, early 20th century
    1280,960
    Price On Request
  • Baby carrier 2, backside
    958,960
    Price On Request
  • SOLD
    551,960
    Price On Request
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Ethnographic / Tribal Art

 

Ethnographic art from Borneo (Sarawak), mainland Malaysia, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Philippines, China and the Amazon. 

 

More information and pricing upon request: be.echols@gmail.com

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