Dayak artist (Borneo, Indonesia)
This enigmatic figure would have been suspended from the top of a Ngaju Soul Boat. Soul ships were created to commemorate ancestors and to ease their journey to the ‘land of departed souls’. Ceremonies, together with effigies, ships and shrines all provided a protective space for the living to safely say goodbye to the deceased, and for the deceased to take an approving and last lingering look at the living.
8.5″ high x 2.5″ wide x 2.5″ deep
MYSS
MMSI ORIG