Ngaju Dayak. Central Kalimantan, Borneo Island, Indonesia.
Hardwood. H: 25.5" (64.8 cm).

This sculpture represents a female figure suckling twin babies. She wears a large ceremonial necklace and sports a tribal hairdo.
On her back is a hornbill figure, the sacred symbol of the upper world and the most important omen bird.
The female/twin maternity imagery symbolizes fertility and abundance and may have been used in related rituals.
Adding the imagery of the hornbill would increase the power and efficiency of the fertility imagery.
It is also possible that the twin figures represent the clan founders (birthed by a mother goddess and a hornbill deity),
not unlike the story of Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology.

For price or additional information, please email your request, with inventory number and title description, to: majtribal@gmail.com.