Bamboo Medicine Container
Modang Dayak, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
19th c.
Provenance: Rodger Dashow Collection, Boston
Carved from a single length of bamboo, this extraordinary Modang Dayak medicine container embodies both artistry and cosmology. The surface is alive with deeply incised spiral and scroll motifs-representations of life force and protective energy-executed with remarkable precision and sensitivity. At the top, a dense cluster of interlocking human and animal figures emerges from the wood, their compressed forms suggesting ancestral guardians bound in perpetual watch.
The dark, aged patina and woven rattan binding speak to long ceremonial use. Such containers once held potent medicinal or magical substances prepared by ritual specialists, serving as vessels of healing and spirit mediation. This example-richly carved and beautifully preserved-is a powerful convergence of sculpture, symbolism, and lived tradition.
Size
Height: 13 inches / 33 cm
Item
IN 5-1-26 / Price on request
Gallery
Bamboo Medicine Container
Modang Dayak, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
19th c.
Provenance: Rodger Dashow Collection, Boston
Carved from a single length of bamboo, this extraordinary Modang Dayak medicine container embodies both artistry and cosmology. The surface is alive with deeply incised spiral and scroll motifs-representations of life force and protective energy-executed with remarkable precision and sensitivity. At the top, a dense cluster of interlocking human and animal figures emerges from the wood, their compressed forms suggesting ancestral guardians bound in perpetual watch.
The dark, aged patina and woven rattan binding speak to long ceremonial use. Such containers once held potent medicinal or magical substances prepared by ritual specialists, serving as vessels of healing and spirit mediation. This example-richly carved and beautifully preserved-is a powerful convergence of sculpture, symbolism, and lived tradition.
Size
Height: 13 inches / 33 cm
Item
IN 5-1-26 / Price on request
Gallery