Très belle statue, IIe de Nias, Style du Nord, Indonésie

Collection Muller-Vanisterbeek, Bruxelles
Sotheby's, New York, 19 novembre 1999, n° 218

Wear consistent with age and use within the culture. A large vertical crack on the right-hand side, open on the torso, filled on the neck and head. The hands broken off at the wrists, glued. a small crack to the inside of the right elbow.
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A la pose hiératique – jambes fléchies, buste droit, mains tenant une petite coupe reposant sur le sternum, tête soutenue par un long cou – répond la richesse de l'ornementation cheffale - haute coiffe stylisée, boucle d'oreille et collier. La très belle tension des courbes est accentuée par la patine brune, brillante.

Sur l'île de Nias, toutes les statuettes en bois sont appelés adu - esprit ancestral - et se rattachent au monde surnaturel ou au monde des esprits. Sculpté avec beaucoup de soin, placé à la vue de tous devant la fenêtre de la maison ou accroché au toit, l'adu siraha salawa protège le chef du village - identifié par la coiffe évoquant les couronnes ornées de feuille d'or, ainsi que par son lobe droit déformé par le port d'un ornement en or (Viaro in RMN, 2000 : 228 - 230).
cf. Feldman (1990 : 202) pour d'autres statues adu siraha salawa relevant du style naturaliste du Nord de l'île - dont celle collectée avant 1890 et conservée au Tropen Museum d'Amsterdam (inv. n° A3701-C).

A very fine figure, Northern style, Nias Island, Indonesia

The hieratic pose of this figure – the bent legs, upright chest, the hands holding a small cup which rests on the sternum, the head supported by a long neck – is complimented by the richness of the chief's ornaments – the high, stylised head-dress, single earring, and necklace. The fine tension of the curves is accentuated by the glossy brown patina.

All wooden figures from Nias Island are known as adu – ancestral spirit – and form part of the supernatural or spirit world. Carved with great care, these figures would be placed in sight of all in front of the house or attached to the roof. The adu siraha salawa would protect the village chief, who can be identified by the figure's head-dress, which is similar to the chief's gold-leaf covered crown, and by the right-ear lobe, which has been stretched by a gold ornament (Viaro in RMN, 2000: 228-230).

Cf. Feldman (1990: 202) for other adu siraha salawa figures in the naturalistic Northern style, including an example collected before 1890 and now in the Tropen-Museum, Amsterdam (inv. no. A3701-C).