Sa'dan Toraja door panel

Sa'dan Toraja door panel
Dimension: 73cm x 27cm

SOLD.

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Water buffalo play a significant role in the lives of the Sa’dan Toraja people. Standards of wealth, markers of prestige, and symbols of male virility, water buffalo images are common decorative themes on traditional houses. The pa’tedong (essence of water buffalo) abstract design is one of the most common multicolored non-representational images etched into exterior house panels. The wooden carved water buffalo head embellished with real horns commonly adorns the face of a large traditional house. Family status and prestige in the Toraja highlands of South Sulawesi, Indonesia is commonly expressed by the number of water buffalo slaughtered at large funerals. The horns of these sacrificial animals are subsequently posed on the front house pillar as graphic expressions of significant family wealth and social standing.
The wooden door depicted here shows a perfectly configured water buffalo with great arching horns. Local villagers assess particular animals on the basis of size, configuration of horns, color and body type.
The most valuable animals are the grey and white piebald bonga which can sometimes be worth as much as a used automobile. The image on the door beckons residents and guests to enter the house of a family, which has the power and wealth to stage great funerals, then subsequently distribute large quantities of meat to assembled mourners, and which plays an important role in community affairs.

A mid-size example probably used as a house or granary window, but could have been a shrine vault window, as well. The image of a buffalo head, as seen on this example, signified the high rank and wealth of the respected villager. The buffalo is an auspicious motif in Toraja culture, and the staff between the horn is a symbol of defense or protection for the dwelling.

The buffalo is an auspicious motif in Toraja culture, and the staff between the horns is a symbol of defense or protection for the dwelling. - See more at: http://www.flysfo.com/museum/exhibitions/19049/detail#sthash.iFZoG3a8.dpuf

The buffalo is an auspicious motif in Toraja culture, and the staff between the horns is a symbol of defense or protection for the dwelling. - See more at: http://www.flysfo.com/museum/exhibitions/19049/detail#sthash.iFZoG3a8.dpuf