African Log Sculpture?

No clue but figured if it wasn't African it might be S. Pacific?

 

Not so fast to give up the Ipad LOL-come on guys, that didn't take that long to figure out for an old thing who's totally not tech.

 

King-I think I deserve a little credit LOL. I did figure it out...seriously thanks to you both for the help. Now we can talk about tribal art!

 

It is not Pacific.
The monkey reminds me a bit of the monkey in the Nazca Plain, Peru.

Maybe a tourist piece from Peru?

 

After all that trouble, I agree with Komokwa, it doesn't appear to be African.

That image on the top, and the general over-all style, looks more Indonesian. Dayak, Sumatra, might be a possibility.

 

I don't see Dayak (Borneo) in this. Maybe you mean Batak, Sumatra, but I don't see that either.
Both styles have intricate floral motifs.
Batak vessel, Dayak medicine container in front:


I don't know any Indonesian tribal art like this sculpture.

 

Thanks all-now I'm really curious. It doesn't ring tourist to me. It's a heavy solid log and I can't see a tourist schlepping it around. I'd love to identify it. Do you need any other pictures? I know how knowledgeable you guys are and can't thank you all enough for posting. It was bought in LA many years ago but it was a true estate sale w no info available.

 

I wasn't too clear in my first post. I should have had an "or" in there..."Dayak, or Sumatra might be a possibility," as in a couple areas to start the search.

The way the eyes on the monkey are carved, round and staring without a pupil, surrounded by a carved-in channel, is typical of Dayak images.

As is the "totem pole" form itself. You find it in Korea, the Pacific Northwest, and Indonesia...and not much anywhere else.

I'd agree, it's probably a quickly-made tourist piece, and not of the quality usually associated with fine Dayak art one usually sees in museums and books. But I think it's most likely Indonesian, as opposed to South Pacific, South American, or African. With more than a thousand tribal cultures in Indonesia, it might not be possible to narrow it down further.

 

Thanks so much! Your tribal art knowledge always astounds me T! (K n AJ too!)I was trying to decide if I should have an iron base/stand made for it and it sounds like that will cost more than the piece is worth so back into the garage it goes lol.

At least I know how to post pics

 

NEVER a pain..............ya just needed a leg up. An because anyone with an interest and desire to learn is an asset to the community, the peeps who know this stuff put their personal lives on hold, let the cat wait for lunch, let the dog whine at the door for a few minutes and missed the Dr. appointment it took three months to schedule and assisted you!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, the "How to Use the Forum" learning curve here can be a bit much. Most people are more than happy to assist those who appreciate it. Its their way of saying thank you for being part of the forum.

Disclaimer: I seldom speak for others, but in this instance I disregarded my own rule.........because some people deserve the praise...............

 

Are you sure you're talking about Indonesia? There are about 300 ethnicities/cultures, not all of them tribal.


A bit small, sorry about that. My Indonesian ancestors are from that small green part (hard to see).

 

I'm guessing you still haven't read my Conversation message then???

 

I did try.

 

Thanks for taking the time and I did read your message but couldn't figure out how to work with the photos on the IPad. What can I tell ya-guess I'm a bit slow but at least I got them up and I think they were relatively readable

 

Ah, ok. I asked a few times but you didn't say you had.
They look fine now.

 

Sorry, def my bad (manners).

 

The 1000 figure comes from what I remember from studying Indonesia in college, connected with a major in Cultural Geography. It is confirmed by Encyclopaedia Britannica and other sources.

The 300 number refers to cultural groups, not the same as a tribe. Some sources put the number of "ethnic" groups at 1300, which is further divided into "pribumi" (indigenous) and non-pribumi (non-indigenous cultures, such as Chinese, Dutch, and Arab), with 95% being pribumi, or indigenous tribal (which would mean about 1235.).

No wonder the national motto is "Unity in Diversity." It probably isn't possible to come up with an exact number, and there are possibly tribal groups which still haven't been visited by outsiders. It's a complicated issue, which I maybe shouldn't have brought up, considering it isn't helping identify the carving!

 

On the run I did write>
"OK!!!
Now go back to EDIT and use the FULL IMAGE button!"

 

Pribumi (translates to something like 'person of the earth') means indigenous in general, non-tribal as well as tribal. It does not mean tribal, and therefore is not indigenous as in tribal versus dominant newcomers.
Ethnic Javanese, who make up over 40% of the Indonesian population, are also pribumi, indigenous but not tribal. I for one wouldn't call a Jakarta businessman tribal, but he is definitely pribumi. The Jakarta area was part of the Sundanese kingdoms ever since the Hindu-Buddhist era, without any tribal affiliation.
Indonesians living outside Indonesia, for instance as students in the US, are also called pribumi.
There is no distinct word in Indonesian for tribal, they will use the English word tribal when communicating with non-Indonesians. The word for ethnic group is 'suku', this can be used for tribe. 'Kesukuan' means both ethnic and tribal. The Indonesian way of thinking is not Western, they have different concepts, this is reflected in their language.

I guess you and I had different sources, with different ways of interpreting numbers and different definitions, when studying Indonesia in college and university. And it also depends on the outline of the definition of tribe.
Most islands had one or more nation states, sometimes small, but nations nonetheless. According to what I learned, from Dutch and Indonesian viewpoints, nations are not tribes. This may have been different in your college education, as you know anthropology, etc. can be a bit of a minefield. By the way, my studies were theology, specializiation Shamanism, and Indonesian language and culture. I only did 1 1/2 years of the last one, didn't finish due to ill health, but have been catching up in bits and pieces.

Indonesian tribal art is very well documented, if this is Indonesian, there should be info on it.
As to the large number of tribal groups, that is mainly (not exclusively) due to Irian Barat/Jaya. As to tribal groups that haven't been visited by outsiders, the current estimation is 40, all in Irian Jaya. I hope they will be left alone. If they need outsiders, they will find them.
But I think we can rule out Papua origin as well in the case of this sculpture, just like other Indonesian regions imo. Heads in Indonesian tribal art are usually ovoid, sometimes slightly triangular if they wear big headdresses. This squat, square figure is not like any Indonesian tribal statue I've seen.

As you probably know, “Bhineka Tunggal Ika" ("although divided in parts, still one", often translated as Unity in Diversity) was the motto of the visionary King Jayabaya, of the 11th century kingdom of Kediri in east Java. It is an important concept in Javanese/Madurese traditional spirituality known as Ilmu Tua, Elmo Towa or Kejawen (part of my background). The oldest written evidence of this motto is in the "Kakawin Sutasoma" of the Majapahit era, 1293 - ca 1500.
After independence the motto was adopted by the Javanese-minded elite in the new government, to assert the syncretic and inclusive Javanese way against the restrictive Arab muslim factions in Indonesian politics. Indonesian politics were very Java-centric at the time, but if they hadn't put their foot down, Indonesia would be in much more trouble than it currently is.
Some see Bhineka Tunggal Ika as meaning ethnic diversity. But it is originally the traditional Javanese idea of diversity in every way, and even within one person, based on a Shamanic spiritual idea of wholeness through unity of seeming differences and opposites.

 

I use an ipad mini, yes often I have to retake the pictures and crop them as they are too big to load. Then I have to go into edit to add the new retaken photos. I think the iPads very user friendly but you don't get a cursor to hover over symbols so you can see what they mean.