Featured Wood carving - what region?

Vintage or antique... Do any one have an ide what country this piece of art are from?

Wood carving by Bofinken posted Feb 17, 2022 at 7:18 PM

Wood carving by Bofinken posted Feb 17, 2022 at 7:18 PM

 

Batak people, Sumatra, Indonesia. Without seeing the entire item, I would say a nice souvenir, my guess mid 20th century.

 

Wow, thanks aloot for the quick response and confident answer! Now i have aloot to read about. On the road now but i gona look closer at the manufactory technique, as i guess thats something that gives a hint about age. Also gona compare to similur objects.

I see that tourism to Indonesia started seriosly about 1959.

 

Not really. Carving is still done by hand, and people in the region had access to metal implements ever since ca 1000 BC, the Dong Son period.

It is a common misconception that the Batak were an isolated tribe. They were a Hindu kingdom, and once part of the powerful early Medieval Sumatran Srivijaya empire which ruled over part of SE Asia.

You only show parts of the item, but I wonder if it was originally a lid?

There was tourism before that, but most of it domestic. Early 20th century European colonials from Java or southern Sumatra wanting to see the 'wild parts' of Indonesia, like Bali and inland Sumatra.

 

Yes its a lid
I dident photo the whole object on purpose. Not sure way but i think i wanted to research my self.

I have read aloot of intressting information about batak people now.

I found similur objekts on the net. The lid should proborly be to a medicin bottle.
The bottle is missing however.

Here is a complete piece i found on etsy