Musket Ball Holder Called Paru-paru - North Sumatra, Indonesia - End Of The 19th Century

Musket Ball Holder Called Paru-paru
Karo Batak culture, North Sumatra, Indonesia 
Late 19th century 
Brown horn, vegetable fibres and gum, fabric and glass beads 
H. 18 cm; L 4.5 cm 
(old restoration)

Carved from a hollowed-out buffalo horn, this ammunition pouch, reserved for hunters and warriors, features an anthropomorphic face wearing a headdress made of rolled-up plant fibres, braided and fixed with plant gum - a tuft of cloth strips on top. 

The face - which is particularly large, reflecting the Batak belief that the soul resides in the head - reflects the stylistic codes of the culture: arches of the eyebrows joined to form a short nasal bridge, scrolled ears, a broad smile with thin lips, and a pointed beard entirely incised with foliage - motifs repeated throughout the piece and organised in a cartouche. 
These features enabled the figure to communicate with the ancestors and ward off spirits and demons at the same time.

The figure's long neck, stretching out like a beak with a shiny patina, was used to house bullets. This particular excrescence has given it its second name, ‘baba ni onggang’, which means ‘hornbill beak’.

It bears an old collection number in red ink, ‘P45’. 

Text and photos © FCP CORIDON