Oho Niha Male Ancestor Figure (Siraha Salawa), Nias Island, Indonesia

Possibly Ben Birillo, New York, 1970s
Allan Stone, New York, acquired from the above on January 7, 1980

Very good condition for an object of this rare type. Vertical age cracks, including one running from proper left eye to the waist, with a patch of wax fill in the area of the necklace, another behind the proper left ear, another to proper left forearm, and a v-shaped crack to the front of the integrally-carved platform. Loss to proper right big toe. Hairline age cracks to limbs. Small losses in headdress. Proper left earlobe is truncated by the sculptor's original design (not a break). Loss to back edge of platform. Fabric attachments faded and frayed. Fine medium brown patina, the headdress and lower parts of the sculpture blackened. Surface varnished. The integrally-carved square post underneath is set into a modern wood plinth.
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Parallel to the west coast of Sumatra is the island of Nias, which covers an area of less than two thousand square miles.  The people inhabiting this small island are known as Ono Niha, and are famous for their monumental stone sculpture, their rich jewelry and personal ornaments, often incorporating gold, and above all their highly refined wood ancestor statuary.  The present figure is an exceptional example of the type called siraha salawa.   According to Kjellgren (2007: 210), these figures "represented distant and illustrious ancestors, often the founders of noble families and lineages.  Noble Ono Niha houses might contain many ada zatua [small-scale ancestor images], but each had only a single siraha salawa."

He continues (ibid.: 210-211): "Restricted to the aristocracy, the siraha salawa was displayed on a freestanding post in the largest room of the house.  The potent ancestor it represented served as the supernatural guardian and protector of the household.  [...]  As befits their exalted status, siraha salawa are shown wearing the elaborate golden crowns and other ornaments that are the prerogative of the highest-ranking nobles [see Fig. 1].  The type and number of these ornaments indicate the gender of the ancestor.  In North Nias, male ancestors [...] are shown with a single earring in the right ear and a single bracelet on the right arm, whereas female ancestors wear matching pairs of earrings and bracelets.  The form of the central peaked crown on the head [...] echoes that of the large golden crowns commissioned by the nobility for owasa (feasts of merit) and afterward worn on special occasions [...].  Ono Niha men were typically clean-shaven, and the figure's pronounced facial hair almost certainly represents the ceremonial moustache (bu bawa ana'a) and beard fashioned from gold that were worn by high-ranking men on festive occasions.  Around the neck the ancestor wears a kalabubu, a distinctive necklace that marks his prowess as a warrior and, in former times, was limited to men who had taken the head of an enemy."

The fine quality, large size, and richness of attributes indicate that the present siraha salawa belonged to a noble Ono Niha family of the highest status, and represents a distinguished and powerful ancestor-warrior.  A closely comparable example is in the Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara, Delft (inv. no. "395-1", see Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara 1990: 37, pl. 6, and 199, cat. no. 20).