Description:

Soul board made of softwood with depiction of a soul ship "telun"
Indonesia, Borneo, Kalimantan East, Ngadyu or Bahau-Dayak, 20th cent.
26 x 60 cm
Wood, pigments. A very rare, ritually significant object. Depicted in its entirety is a ship in the shape of a stylised dragon with bared teeth and outstretched tongue. The dragon aso symbolises the ancestral community. The soul ship is executed in the colours red, black and white. The pigments in black are probably burnt unripe coconut shells, white is the juice of the Ficus religiosa and red is dragon's blood rubbed on with coconut oil. The people at the bow and stern are busy warding off evil spirits. In the centre of the ship's deck you can see the canopy with the funeral urn and the gongs suspended above it, which accompany the dead as sacred heirlooms pesaka and emphasise his prestige.
Collected from an old German private collection since the 1950s

The soul ship telun is a concept of the Dayak on Borneo, which probably originally goes back to the Egyptian sun barque of Ra. It was believed that souls, like the sun, rise from the underworld in the east and “set” in the west, entering the underworld Apulagan. The deceased travels on a river, which first begins wide and then leads through a narrow gorge with a whirlpool of fire at the end into the realm of the dead. The soul stays in the little house depicted in the middle section; the objects hanging on the frame are precious pusaka, heirlooms, which were given to the deceased. They shine on the way to the afterlife, which is why they are important for the journey. The ships with a hornbill bow are called banama tinggang (“great/high name”) and represent nobles, while the dragon bow (aso) is the “standard model”. While the deceased awaits redemption in the afterlife, his soul remains in a wooden board on which a ship of the dead is painted and which is located at the house of the deceased. The second burial, tiwah (“celebration of redemption”), takes place months or even years after death. The long period between the two funerals is due to the fact that tiwah is a very elaborate and expensive celebration and can last up to a month. For this reason, several burials are often combined. Blood was believed to strengthen the sun or the boat along the way, probably originally because of its red color at rising and setting. This is why headhunting, for which the Dayak were once notorious, was essential for the burial of nobles

Seelenbrett aus Weichholz mit Darstellung eines Seelenschiffes "telun"
Indonesien, Borneo, Kalimantan Ost-, Ngadyu- oder Bahau-Dayak, 20. Jh.
26 x 60 cm
Holz, Pigmente. Ein sehr seltenes, rituell bedeutsames Objekt. Dargestellt ist in der Gesamtheit ein Schiff in der Gestalt eines stilisierten Drachen mit gebleckten Zähnen und herausgestreckter Zunger. Der Drache aso verkörpert die Abstammungsgemeinschaft. Das Seelenschiff ist in den Farben Rot, Schwarz, Weiß ausgeführt. Bei den Pigmenten handelt es sich bei Schwarz wohl um gebrannte unreife Kokosnuss-Schalen, bei Weiß um dem Saft des Ficus religiosa und bei Rot um Drachenblut, welches mit Kokosöl angerieben wird. Die Personen an Bug und Heck sind mit Abwehr böser Geister beschäftigt. In der Mitte des Schiffdecks erkennt man die Überdachung mit der Graburne und den darüber aufgehängten Gongs, die als heilige Erbstücke pesaka den Toten begleiten und sein Prestige verdeutlichen.
Aus einer alten deutschen Privatsammlung seit den 1950er Jahren gesammelt

Das Seelenschiff telun ist ein Konzept der Dayak auf Borneo, das ursprünglich wahrscheinlich auf die ägyptische Sonnenbarke von Ra zurückgeht. Man glaubte, dass die Seelen ähnlich wie die Sonne im Osten aus der Unterwelt aufsteigen und im Westen "untergehen" und in die Unterwelt Apulagan eingehen. Der Tote reist auf einem Fluss, welcher erst breit anfängt und am Ende durch eine enge Schlucht mit einem Feuerstrudel am Ende in das Totenreich führt. In dem im Mittelteil dar

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We do not offer inhouse packing and shipping services.

We are pleased to provide you with the following list of transport companies, which we can recommend based on many years of good experience and a longstanding cooperation. We kindly ask you to contact the companies directly to negotiate the terms of costs, insurance and the organization of the transport.

Export to countries outside the EU are subject to the restrictions of the UNESCO convention from 1970 and the European Agreement for the Protection of Cultural Heritage from 1993. Moreover, the cites regulations are applicable. Objects with materials such as ivory or tortoise shell require a permission for export into countries outside the EU contract area due to cites regulations. We point out that such a permission is usually not given. For exports within the EU the Act to Protect German Cultural Property against Removal (Kulturgutschutzgesetz) has been in force since 6th August 2016.


Eric Art Services
Beijing/Shanghai/Hong Kong
+86 10 8880 3001 (BJ)
+86 21 3103 2707 (SH)
+852 2204 1888 (HK)
[email protected]


Mailboxes etc. / MBE
Silke Klink & Marco Bittner
Friedrich-List-Str. 8
70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen
+49 (0) 711 / 41170270
[email protected]


Matthias Fegers
Service for art and trade
Moldenweg 5
21339 Lüneburg
49 (0) 4131 / 727525
[email protected]


MuseumsPartner Kunstspedition GmbH
Pass-Thurn-Straße 25
6372 Oberndorf bei Kitzbühel
+43 5356 6950
[email protected]


A.V.M. Service and Transport
Alexander von Mertens
Römerstraße 32
70180 Stuttgart
+49 (0) 172 / 71 36 254
[email protected]

December 9, 2024 9:30 AM CET
Stuttgart, Germany

Nagel Auction

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 32.5% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
0 € 19 € 5 €
20 € 179 € 10 €
180 € 299 € 20 €
300 € 359 € 30 €
360 € 399 € 40 €
400 € 899 € 50 €
900 € 999 € 100 €
1.000 € 1.999 € 100 €
2.000 € 2.999 € 200 €
3.000 € 3.599 € 300 €
3.600 € 3.999 € 400 €
4.000 € 9.999 € 500 €
10.000 € 19.999 € 1.000 €
20.000 € 29.999 € 2.000 €
30.000 € 35.999 € 3.000 €
36.000 € 39.999 € 4.000 €
40.000 € 99.999 € 5.000 €
100.000 € 199.999 € 10.000 €
200.000 € + 20.000 €