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Lot 699
Powder horn "salempang"
Estimated Value:
500 € - 800 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
North Sumatra, Karo-Batak, late 19th / early 20th cent.L. 16,5 cm
Horn (buffalo), textile fiber. Beautiful old powder horn of the Karo-Batak. It is made from the tip of the honey-colored horn of a buffalo (preferably a bull; probably a wild bovine). The body is smoothed and shows the geometric motifs typical of Batak art in two rows all around. A crouching (ancestor) figure with bent knees rises above it. The hardness is reminiscent of burial postures and symbolizes renewal and rebirth, as the posture also corresponds to that of an embryo. In the past, the dead were buried in this position, often in the house under the hearthstone, and thus remained connected to the living. The small opening at the apex of the ancestor figure is closed with a stopper made of the same material, which is connected to the bottle with a cord via eyelets. The narrow opening can be fitted precisely onto the muzzle of the Tromblon rifles (hook rifles) and the powder poured in.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s - Very minim. Signs of use - Collection no. 175 on the underside
