Splendid Indo-Portuguese Colonial Sculpture of Nagini from Goa, 17th Century

Indonesia, Nias, 19th century H. 37.5 x W. 10 cm Sculptures like the one present are not only decorative items but are believed to be vessels that house the spirits of ancestors and are used to communicate with them. After the death of a person a wooden image or Adu Zatua was made to mediate between the human world and the spiritual realm. These kinds of figures were commissioned by noble Nias families, whereas simple and lesser quality carvings generally were found among lower class families. In this particularly fine example, the sculptor has paid careful attention to the proportions of the different parts of the body, dividing it into three main sections – the head, the torso, and the legs. The shapes are sometimes flat, round, or have notches, but all are perfectly in balance creating a certain divine tranquillity. This Adua Zatua’s ears are decorated with earrings, and it is wearing a headdress, pointing towards a chiefly provenance. In 1914 the Dutch gained complete control of the island of Nias and started spreading Protestant Christianity. Many ancestor statues...

A carved and painted wood 'TURKOMANIA' sculpture of an ottoman soldier French or Dutch Turkomania, early 19th century Depicted in standing position, with a sword in one hand and a club in the raised other, with a fur hat, long moustache and long coat, on a square base. Measures: H. 58 cm Note: During the Dutch War of Independence from 1568 till 1648, the Dutch and Turks were allies against Roman Catholic Spain and the slogan of the Dutch was “liever Turks dan Paaps” (rather Muslim than Roman Catholic). In 1612 the first Dutch ambassador arrived in Istanbul. Nevertheless, in Holland, there was also the image of the cruel and heretic Turk stemming from the frequent violent clashes between Dutch ships and the pirates from Algiers, usually called the “Turkish pirates”. When the Ottoman armies advanced against Vienna, in the eyes of many Europeans the Islam bent on destroying Christianity. Later in the early 19th century, although the Turkish threat to Europe was long gone, the image of the Turks deteriorated again because of the Greek uprising. The Sultan Mahmud II understood that Turkey had to modernize along West European lines and among other things in 1808 he replaced the “picturesque” oriental clothing...

The Karajá people inhabit a 180-mile-long region in central Brazil, spanning the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Pará, and Tocantins. Currently, they reside in 29 villages throughout t...

1980s Hand Carved in Wood Sculpture Indu Woman