AN IRONWOOD GUARDIAN FIGURE ''HAMPATONG''

Description:

Indonesia, Borneo, Kalimantan, probably East, Kajan or Bahau-Dayak, early 20th c.
H. 233 cm ( o.S. )
This wooden sculpture hampatong is made from a piece of ironwood(belian, Eusideroxylon zwageri). This is a work of art of high individuality. The main motif of this hampatong is a Janus figure (dual-sexed), the male part of which is holding a fish in his hand. The female side of the sculpture is touching her navel, a reference to birth, fertility and vitality. The male side with the fish in his hand is symbolically connected to the nourishment of the clan by the hunter and fisherman, male activities, whereby the fish also has a phallic component. Above the Janus figure, a strange double hybrid creature clings to the supporting trunk, a combination of human, demon and aquatic aso dragon, whereby the aso pointing to "Janus" guards and rules the world beyond and is responsible for the renewal of life. He is "fed" by headhunting, which always transmits new life into his realm, which can then be rededicated to fertility and renewal by the shaman:inner manang. The abstract style of the aso clearly refers to the very remarkable art tradition of East Kalimantan. The belian tree is an evergreen, very slow-growing tree with a dense crown that grows to over 50 metres high on Borneo and Sumatra. The trunk diameter reaches 150-250 centimetres (up to 5.7 metres have been observed). The tree can live for over 1000, probably even 2000 years and is sacred to the Dajak. The wood is extremely dense and durable. Hampatong is the name given to ancestor and protective figures made from its wood, which require the best (steel) tools and skills due to the hardness of the material. They are erected by all Dayak groups as memorial sculptures for the deceased at burial sites or as guardians in front of the longhouses.
From an old German private collection, assembled since the 1950s - Minor traces of age, partly slightly chipped, mounted