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A Batak wooden female 'singa' architectural element browse these categories for related items... All Items: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian: Southeast Asian: Sculpture: Pre 1950: item # 918945 Please refer to our stock # B905 when inquiring.
michael cichon tribal arts P.O. Box 5919 Bradenton, FL 34281 941.224.0440 Guest Book $8,500.00 |
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| The image of 'singa' is of considerable importance to the Batak peoples of Northern Sumatra. Singa is a composite, mythological monster with horse, buffalo, and serpent features. The characteristics of the creature vary with the exact use of the singa image on portable objects as well as buildings. Creators of elaborately decorated architecture, the Toba Batak use singa on architectural facades in their village compounds. Houses with rectangular formatting and sharply peaked roof lines were covered with ornate carvings and polychrome painted designs. The Batak house symbolically represented the world. It's three-levels were equated with Batak cosmogony - the underworld, the middleworld, and the upperworld. Singa heads, like this fine, old example, were attached to the ends of each buildings main side beams, representing the monster's serpentine body. Singa, manifesting itself as a buffalo-serpent, was the supporting earth itself. This comes back to the concept of the house dwelling representing the world. In a Toba creation story, a female goddess was placed in charge of reshaping the earth and became embattled with the serpent, wounding it with her sword. The weapon was stuck in the creature and it, even today, writhes in agony, causing earthquakes in the region. This female version shows the high, domed forehead or horn extension in contrast to the male singa with a more rounded head form. Interestingly, females are used exclusively on domestic, multi-family dwellings, and males only on rice granaries which act as male dormitories, as well. Showing a fine, somewhat weathered surface with extensive remains of organic red, white, and black polychromy. 48" H x 15" W. Early-mid 20th century. | ||||||||
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