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Lot 692
Medicine container "naga marsarang"
Estimated Value:
2.000 € - 3.000 €
Result:
incl. Premium and VAT
Description:
Indonesia, Sumatra North, Toba-Batak. early 20th cent.L. 49 cm
Horn, wood, fiber. Large magic horn (medicine container) of a high-ranking datu (shaman) of the Toba-Batak in North Sumatra. Among the Batak of Sumatra, the datu or “specialist” for magical matters of all kinds needed various containers to store certain magical substances, amulets and medicine. The naga marsarang horn is the most important of these. It embodies the status of the datu and, along with the staff tunggal or tongkat, is a sign of his dignity. The horn, the hollow main part of which comes from a water buffalo bull, is in two parts and has a carved lid made of medium-hard wood. This represents the mighty head of the dragon- or horse-like tutelary god Singa, who is the ancestor of the ancestors. The body of the horn is entwined with palm fiber cord, which provides magical protection for the objects inside the horn, but is also intended to prevent uncontrolled external effects due to its magical power. This magical “binding” is also known from other significant objects. The horn is intentionally blackened, probably by burning incense. This measure is seen as purifying. Sometimes, after the death of important previous owners, their possessions were magically “neutralized” by burning incense with certain ingredients.
From an old German private collection, collected since the 1950s - Minim. Signs of age and wear
The figure of the singa, which is the representational basis of most naga marsarang, is symbolically very complex and has little to do with the Indian-Hindu and Buddhist singga (mythical lion), which has played an important symbolic role on the subcontinent since the time of Alexander the Great. It does not embody the heraldic lion of the Greco-Bactrian culture, but the naga or boru saniang naga, the world serpent of Hindu mythology. It is not clear why this mythical figure was given the term singa. The singa of the Batak is an elusive concept that brings together the underworld deity Naga Pahoda (usually visualized as a world serpent), the horse sacred to the Batak, the ancient hornbill symbolism commonly known in Southeast Asia, Indo-Javanese dragon-like sea deities and powerful ancestor figures. As the name of the horns suggests, the magic horns are seen as naga (snake) in their entirety and assigned to the aquatic sphere and underworld, which in the dualistic conception finds a counterweight, but also a combination and inseparable unity with the introduced (Hindu) upper world deities and their embodiment in the singa. The singa can be found everywhere in Batak culture, especially in the mighty representative buildings made of huge beam constructions (clan houses, rumah bolon, rumah adat), which are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Singa, however, can be found everywhere, on everyday objects, sarcophagi, granaries, amulets, books, jewelry, etc. The Batak have been in close contact with Hinduism since early historical times and have developed a unique syncretic cosmology that has produced distinctive art forms
