A medicine container "naga barsarang"

Description:

Sumatra North, Toba-Batak, late 19th/early to mid 20th cent.
L. 34,5 cm
The medicine container naga barsarang is made of horn. The body of the horn, which was used to hold the magic remedies raja ni pagar or pupuk ni pagar, is covered all over with curved ribbon ornamentation in low relief. The lid shows a stylised singa with the characteristic three horns, its mouth stretched over a crouching ancestor figure. This motif indicates the transformation of soul substance by the singa, who represents the world beyond, and the ancestor as a mediator between the planes of the world. The procession of sacrifices or ancestors that can usually be recognised on the head or neck of the singa is depicted here in the form of five kneeling figures. An ancestor figure also sits on the raised tail. The singa here has two legs - an element rarely found elsewhere. The horn is of high quality, but already shows a style that is influenced by the urban culture of Medan and is export-orientated.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s
The magical substances transported in such horns, which were used to animate protective figures and other objects of significance and also for healing spells, were made from various ingredients, which in the past also included parts of human heads and bodies. Various ancient sources (e.g. Rosenberg, 1854) refer to the preparation of the pupuk transported in the horns, which could be used to make a statue the seat of a protective spirit pangulubalang (de facto a process of ensoulment), and which involved the killing and decapitation of a human being. The powerful horns had to be magically ‘fed’ and sacrificed by the user so as not to release any malevolent forces. Horns that were made for tourist purposes and not by the datu (priest) for his own use, on the other hand, are usually smaller and have a rather amorphous patina, which was achieved with black paint or tar. Naturally, they also show no signs of use, which are also difficult to imitate. Such horns were already being produced on a large scale as ‘export goods’ in the late 19th century. They can usually be distinguished quite clearly from ‘genuine’ pieces, i.e. those intended for use by the datu