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artist
Stone Seat, Osa'Osa, 19th century
stone
147.3 x 132.1 cm (58 x 52 in.)
Gift of George and Marie Hecksher 2005.140.4

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: Hellen and Robert Kuhn Collection, Los Angeles PUBLICATIONS: 2009 FAM Bulletin entry (unabridged) - "One of the main preoccupations of the nobility in Nias was to perform proscribed ritual feasts to raise one's personal status and glorify their clan's lineage. (1) Theirs was truly an aristocratic culture, where symbols and physical displays of “elevation” were essential to a noble's identity. (2) The labor and costs associated with feasts of merit in terms of gold ornaments, food distribution, and gifts was enormous. In central Nias, a variety of stone monuments were competitively placed outside the great houses of nobles and on surrounding stone plazas to honor the largest of feast givers and their forbearers. In this way, aristocratic ideals, genealogies, and prerogatives -- social relationships and alliances were periodically reaffirmed and enshrined. Over time, groupings of stone menhirs, statues, and commemorative seats became a village's center for ritual activity - a power spot that served as a living conduit to the ancestors. Stone seats (osa'osa) exist in various sizes and shapes, but are only found in central Nias. This particular seat (osa osa si sara mbagi) is impressively large, old, and the finest one on display in any American museum. Conceptually, it combines aspects of existing animals and mythical beasts with human properties. The circular seat supports the head of a dragon set with tiger's teeth (lasara) and the fanned tail of a bird. Conversely, the beast displays a warrior's necklace (kalabubu). The shape and musculature of this creature's four legs, and its genitalia are also human-like; further suggesting the extenuation of the power of the nobility, and their links to the supernatural." FOOTNOTES (1) Resources used in this entry: Feldman, Jerome, ed. The eloquent dead : ancestral sculpture of Indonesia and Southeast Asia (Los Angeles : UCLA Museum of Cultural History, 1985), 45-78; Schnitger, F. M, Forgotten Kingdoms in Sumatra (Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1939); Barbier, Jean Paul, Ed. Messages in stone: statues and sculptures from tribal Indonesia in the collections of the Barbier-Mueller Museum. (Milan: Skira; Geneva: Musee Barbier-Mueller, 1998), 35-37; Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara, Ed., Nias Tribal Treasures (Delft: The Museum, 1990); Barbier, J.P. & Newton, Douglas, Ed. Islands and Ancestors, Indigenous Styles of Southeast Asia (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988) 34-49. (2) Feldman, The eloquent dead, 45-78.

Related Keywords
Osa'Osa Hecksher Marie George Gift Angeles Los Kuhn Robert Hellen Oceania Nias island Indonesia Sculpture stone also genitalia legs four creature's this musculature shape kalabubu necklace warrior's displays beast Conversely bird tail fanned lasara teeth tiger's set dragon head supports seat Circular properties human beasts mythical animals existing aspects Combines limestone piece one Carved 0813200812330012 A376692 2005.140.4 AOA