Nias Tribe Adu, Wooden Figures, Box: Vintage
3" High x 9" Long x 3.75" Wide
This is a vintage box worthy of any box collection.
The people of Nias , an Indonesian tribe, placed great value on wooden figures or adu. The sole purpose of the Nias figures was to fulfill ritual needs, whether it is to ensure wealth or to perform a specific beneficial rite. When an elderly person died, the family would make a wooden statue known as adu zatua. The shape of the wooden statue reflects the status of the person who used them: the more powerful the owner, the more impressive the statue will be made. Missionary work in 1930 had recorded the removal of 'over 2000 "idols" from a house of a new northern convert.' Some missionaries even recorded collapsing houses under the weight of these ancestor figures. Small adu zatua were bound together horizontally using rattan and pegs.
This adu box has a peg that fits into one side allowing the box to slide open.
Handcarved in Indonesia