Material: Bark, ink, wood
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Cover: Height 30 cm, Width 18.5 cm
Order Number: MHSASBB1

Portrait of a datu with divination book, medicine horn and magic staff, photographer unknown, 1929/1929. From the collection of the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Batak people are Indonesia’s largest ethnic minority group with over 6 million people. They live around Lake Toba in Sumatra. There are 6 ethnic groups with different languages and customs and they all believe they are descended from a common ancestor called Si Raja Batak.

Their religion centred around Batak datu priests, who had magical powers and held totem pole staffs, curved horns holding magical substances, and folding books full of spells. Their chief duty was to protect the individual, family and village from black magic and malevolent forces through rituals, concoctions, statues and amulets.

In 1866 the Lutheran German missionary Ludwig Nommensen converted most of the  Bataks.

These exotic books are called pustaha by the Bataks. They were written on bark with wooden covers by the Batak datu.  There are 5 Batak languages with 3 sub-groups, but the script of each is similar.

They are actually made from the bast of the alim tree, which is removed in long strips, smoothed and covered with rice flour paste. The strips are cut and folded into a concertina. The two ends are glued to the wooden covers. The ink is made from several resins and boiled and applied with a pen made from bamboo or buffalo horn or sugar palm leaf.

The content may be religious or non-religious, but usually contains magic cures, medicinal recipes, how to make protective amulets, black magic, fortune telling, astrology and instructions on how to carry out rituals. They are shorthand notes for the datu for his own use and notes dictated to his pupils. This explains the abrupt and fragmentary character of many texts.

There are calendars in the books. The year is 12 months. The month is divided into three groups of ten days. There are no weeks. The calendar is used to determine auspicious days for carrying out important matters, such as going on a trip, sowing or harvesting or getting married.

The pustaha are no longer used and not many exist outside private collections.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Batak Book 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Bark, ink, wood
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Cover: Height 19.5 cm, Width 12.5 cm
Order Number: MHSASBB2

Portrait of a datu with divination book, medicine horn and magic staff, photographer unknown, 1929/1929. From the collection of the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Batak people are Indonesia’s largest ethnic minority group with over 6 million people. They live around Lake Toba in Sumatra. There are 6 ethnic groups with different languages and customs and they all believe they are descended from a common ancestor called Si Raja Batak.

Their religion centred around Batak datu priests, who had magical powers and held totem pole staffs, curved horns holding magical substances, and folding books full of spells. Their chief duty was to protect the individual, family and village from black magic and malevolent forces through rituals, concoctions, statues and amulets.

In 1866 the Lutheran German missionary Ludwig Nommensen converted most of the  Bataks.

These exotic books are called pustaha by the Bataks. They were written on bark with wooden covers by the Batak datu.  There are 5 Batak languages with 3 sub-groups, but the script of each is similar.

They are actually made from the bast of the alim tree, which is removed in long strips, smoothed and covered with rice flour paste. The strips are cut and folded into a concertina. The two ends are glued to the wooden covers. The ink is made from several resins and boiled and applied with a pen made from bamboo or buffalo horn or sugar palm leaf.

The content may be religious or non-religious, but usually contains magic cures, medicinal recipes, how to make protective amulets, black magic, fortune telling, astrology and instructions on how to carry out rituals. They are shorthand notes for the datu for his own use and notes dictated to his pupils. This explains the abrupt and fragmentary character of many texts.

There are calendars in the books. The year is 12 months. The month is divided into three groups of ten days. There are no weeks. The calendar is used to determine auspicious days for carrying out important matters, such as going on a trip, sowing or harvesting or getting married. The Karo Batak particularly, who did not convert to Christianity or Islam, still consult it.

The pustaha are no longer used and not many exist outside private collections.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Batak Book 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Bark, ink, wood
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Cover: Height 20 cm, Width 13 cm
Order Number: MHSASBB3

Portrait of a datu with divination book, medicine horn and magic staff, photographer unknown, 1929/1929. From the collection of the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Batak people are Indonesia’s largest ethnic minority group with over 6 million people. They live around Lake Toba in Sumatra. There are 6 ethnic groups with different languages and customs and they all believe they are descended from a common ancestor called Si Raja Batak.

Their religion centred around Batak datu priests, who had magical powers and held totem pole staffs, curved horns holding magical substances, and folding books full of spells. Their chief duty was to protect the individual, family and village from black magic and malevolent forces through rituals, concoctions, statues and amulets.

In 1866 the Lutheran German missionary Ludwig Nommensen converted most of the  Bataks.

These exotic books are called pustaha by the Bataks. They were written on bark with wooden covers by the Batak datu.  There are 5 Batak languages with 3 sub-groups, but the script of each is similar.

They are actually made from the bast of the alim tree, which is removed in long strips, smoothed and covered with rice flour paste. The strips are cut and folded into a concertina. The two ends are glued to the wooden covers. The ink is made from several resins and boiled and applied with a pen made from bamboo or buffalo horn or sugar palm leaf.

The content may be religious or non-religious, but usually contains magic cures, medicinal recipes, how to make protective amulets, black magic, fortune telling, astrology and instructions on how to carry out rituals. They are shorthand notes for the datu for his own use and notes dictated to his pupils. This explains the abrupt and fragmentary character of many texts.

There are calendars in the books. The year is 12 months. The month is divided into three groups of ten days. There are no weeks. The calendar is used to determine auspicious days for carrying out important matters, such as going on a trip, sowing or harvesting or getting married. The Karo Batak particularly, who did not convert to Christianity or Islam, still consult it.

The pustaha are no longer used and not many exist outside private collections.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Batak Book 3 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Bark, ink, rattan, bamboo cover
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Cover: Height 7.5 cm, Width 5 cm
Order Number: MHSASBB4

This is the tiniest, cutest  Batak book I’ve ever seen. It’s got a woven rattan strap. About half the pages on one side are blank, indicating it was finished – or perhaps a work in progress. This is exceedingly rare. It has a great patina.

Portrait of a datu with divination book, medicine horn and magic staff, photographer unknown, 1929/1929. From the collection of the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Batak people are Indonesia’s largest ethnic minority group with over 6 million people. They live around Lake Toba in Sumatra. There are 6 ethnic groups with different languages and customs and they all believe they are descended from a common ancestor called Si Raja Batak.

Their religion centred around Batak datu priests, who had magical powers and held totem pole staffs, curved horns holding magical substances, and folding books full of spells. Their chief duty was to protect the individual, family and village from black magic and malevolent forces through rituals, concoctions, statues and amulets.

In 1866 the Lutheran German missionary Ludwig Nommensen converted most of the  Bataks.

These exotic books are called pustaha by the Bataks. They were written on bark with wooden covers by the Batak datu.  There are 5 Batak languages with 3 sub-groups, but the script of each is similar.

They are actually made from the bast of the alim tree, which is removed in long strips, smoothed and covered with rice flour paste. The strips are cut and folded into a concertina. The two ends are glued to the wooden covers. The ink is made from several resins and boiled and applied with a pen made from bamboo or buffalo horn or sugar palm leaf.

The content may be religious or non-religious, but usually contains magic cures, medicinal recipes, how to make protective amulets, black magic, fortune telling, astrology and instructions on how to carry out rituals. They are shorthand notes for the datu for his own use and notes dictated to his pupils. This explains the abrupt and fragmentary character of many texts.

There are calendars in the books. The year is 12 months. The month is divided into three groups of ten days. There are no weeks. The calendar is used to determine auspicious days for carrying out important matters, such as going on a trip, sowing or harvesting or getting married. The Karo Batak particularly, who did not convert to Christianity or Islam, still consult it.

The pustaha are no longer used and not many exist outside private collections.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Batak Book 4 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Bark, ink, rattan
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Cover: Length 17 cm, Width 16.5 cm (carved on one side); 44 pages
Order Number: MHSASBB5

Portrait of a datu with divination book, medicine horn and magic staff, photographer unknown, 1929/1929. From the collection of the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Batak people are Indonesia’s largest ethnic minority group with over 6 million people. They live around Lake Toba in Sumatra. There are 6 ethnic groups with different languages and customs and they all believe they are descended from a common ancestor called Si Raja Batak.

Their religion centred around Batak datu priests, who had magical powers and held totem pole staffs, curved horns holding magical substances, and folding books full of spells. Their chief duty was to protect the individual, family and village from black magic and malevolent forces through rituals, concoctions, statues and amulets.

In 1866 the Lutheran German missionary Ludwig Nommensen converted most of the  Bataks.

These exotic books are called pustaha by the Bataks. They were written on bark with wooden covers by the Batak datu.  There are 5 Batak languages with 3 sub-groups, but the script of each is similar.

They are actually made from the bast of the alim tree, which is removed in long strips, smoothed and covered with rice flour paste. The strips are cut and folded into a concertina. The two ends are glued to the wooden covers. The ink is made from several resins and boiled and applied with a pen made from bamboo or buffalo horn or sugar palm leaf.

The content may be religious or non-religious, but usually contains magic cures, medicinal recipes, how to make protective amulets, black magic, fortune telling, astrology and instructions on how to carry out rituals. They are shorthand notes for the datu for his own use and notes dictated to his pupils. This explains the abrupt and fragmentary character of many texts.

There are calendars in the books. The year is 12 months. The month is divided into three groups of ten days. There are no weeks. The calendar is used to determine auspicious days for carrying out important matters, such as going on a trip, sowing or harvesting or getting married. The Karo Batak particularly, who did not convert to Christianity or Islam, still consult it.

The pustaha are no longer used and not many exist outside private collections.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Batak Book 5 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Wood
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Height 137 cm, Width 5  cm
Order Number: MHSASSS1

Known as Tunggal Malehat or Tunggal Panaluan, the shaman’s staff displays pure, refined, ancient Batak iconography.

Shamans use the staff in rituals to ward off evil spirits, enemies, thieves and bandits from the village, and to start and end rain.

It is his most important ritual object. They often use a special wood.

They are all carved individually and display an enormous variety of styles.

The simplest show a single figure standing or squatting. More complicated ones have many human figures arranged one of top of another. Between the figures are animals. The top figure is usually a male and the largest. Below him is a smaller female standing or sitting. The sex of the other figures is usually unclear.

The carvings represent a Batik myth. Incestuous twins from a village were punished by being made into part of a tree. Priests called in to help failed and were also made part of the tree. It was finally determined that  wood from the tree would  protect the village. To obtain some of this power shamans (datu) carved staffs resembling the tree. 

Staffs are about 6 feet long. The two uppermost figures represent the twins. The others represent the priests who failed. A powerful substance called pupuk is inserted into holes along the length of the stick by the shaman to bring it to life. They are closed up with resin or a wooden plug.

It is cruel. Pupuk reanimates the spirits of the dead. To make the pupuk, the datu kidnaps a male baby from the enemy’s village. He raises the child to becomes obedient. Then the datu  tells the child to drink boiling molten tin. The child dies immediately and his body is chopped up and mixed with the flesh of animals. The mixture is then left to putrefy. Liquid oozes out and is put in a guri-guri (a cup). The leftover material is burned until it becomes ash. This ash is known as pupuk.

Pupuk is also used to animate the ancestral statues (debata idup) placed around the village to protect it.

The magical properties of the staff become live and dangerous, so the staff is hung under the eaves or has a little house of its own. At ceremonies it is given offerings and the blood of sacrificed animals. The shaman dances in trance with the staff and spits betel juice on it and uses it to ascertain auspicious days and to tell the future.

A rich brown patina covers the entire staff.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Shaman’s Staff 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Wood
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Height 114 cm, Width of head 3  cm
Order Number: MHSASSS2

Known as Tunggal Malehat or Tunggal Panaluan, the shaman’s staff displays pure, refined, ancient Batak iconography.

Shamans use the staff in rituals to ward off evil spirits, enemies, thieves and bandits from the village, and to start and end rain.

It is his most important ritual object. They often use a special wood.

They are all carved individually and display an enormous variety of styles.

The simplest show a single figure standing or squatting. More complicated ones have many human figures arranged one of top of another. Between the figures are animals. The top figure is usually a male and the largest. Below him is a smaller female standing or sitting. The sex of the other figures is usually unclear.

The carvings represent a Batik myth. Incestuous twins from a village were punished by being made into part of a tree. Priests called in to help failed and were also made part of the tree. It was finally determined that  wood from the tree would  protect the village. To obtain some of this power shamans (datu) carved staffs resembling the tree. 

Staffs are about 6 feet long. The two uppermost figures represent the twins. The others represent the priests who failed. A powerful substance called pupuk is inserted into holes along the length of the stick by the shaman to bring it to life. They are closed up with resin or a wooden plug.

It is cruel. Pupuk reanimates the spirits of the dead. To make the pupuk, the datu kidnaps a male baby from the enemy’s village. He raises the child to becomes obedient. Then the datu  tells the child to drink boiling molten tin. The child dies immediately and his body is chopped up and mixed with the flesh of animals. The mixture is then left to putrefy. Liquid oozes out and is put in a guri-guri (a cup). The leftover material is burned until it becomes ash. This ash is known as pupuk.

Pupuk is also used to animate the ancestral statues (debata idup) placed around the village to protect it.

The magical properties of the staff become live and dangerous, so the staff is hung under the eaves or has a little house of its own. At ceremonies it is given offerings and the blood of sacrificed animals. The shaman dances in trance with the staff and spits betel juice on it and uses it to ascertain auspicious days and to tell the future.

A rich brown patina covers the entire staff.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Shaman’s Staff 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Wood, fibre
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Height 175 cm, Width of head 8  cm
Order Number: MHSASSS3

Known as Tunggal Malehat or Tunggal Panaluan, the shaman’s staff displays pure, refined, ancient Batak iconography.

Shamans use the staff in rituals to ward off evil spirits, enemies, thieves and bandits from the village, and to start and end rain.

It is his most important ritual object. They often use a special wood.

They are all carved individually and display an enormous variety of styles.

The simplest show a single figure standing or squatting. More complicated ones have many human figures arranged one of top of another. Between the figures are animals. The top figure is usually a male and the largest. Below him is a smaller female standing or sitting. The sex of the other figures is usually unclear.

The carvings represent a Batik myth. Incestuous twins from a village were punished by being made into part of a tree. Priests called in to help failed and were also made part of the tree. It was finally determined that  wood from the tree would  protect the village. To obtain some of this power shamans (datu) carved staffs resembling the tree. 

Staffs are about 6 feet long. The two uppermost figures represent the twins. The others represent the priests who failed. A powerful substance called pupuk is inserted into holes along the length of the stick by the shaman to bring it to life. They are closed up with resin or a wooden plug.

It is cruel. Pupuk reanimates the spirits of the dead. To make the pupuk, the datu kidnaps a male baby from the enemy’s village. He raises the child to becomes obedient. Then the datu  tells the child to drink boiling molten tin. The child dies immediately and his body is chopped up and mixed with the flesh of animals. The mixture is then left to putrefy. Liquid oozes out and is put in a guri-guri (a cup). The leftover material is burned until it becomes ash. This ash is known as pupuk.

Pupuk is also used to animate the ancestral statues (debata idup) placed around the village to protect it.

The magical properties of the staff become live and dangerous, so the staff is hung under the eaves or has a little house of its own. At ceremonies it is given offerings and the blood of sacrificed animals. The shaman dances in trance with the staff and spits betel juice on it and uses it to ascertain auspicious days and to tell the future.

A rich brown patina covers the entire staff.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Shaman’s Staff 3 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Wood, fibre
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Height 150 cm (not including headdress),  162 cm (including headdress), Width of head 6  cm
Order Number: MHSASSS4

Known as Tunggal Malehat or Tunggal Panaluan, the shaman’s staff displays pure, refined, ancient Batak iconography.

Shamans use the staff in rituals to ward off evil spirits, enemies, thieves and bandits from the village, and to start and end rain.

It is his most important ritual object. They often use a special wood.

They are all carved individually and display an enormous variety of styles.

The simplest show a single figure standing or squatting. More complicated ones have many human figures arranged one of top of another. Between the figures are animals. The top figure is usually a male and the largest. Below him is a smaller female standing or sitting. The sex of the other figures is usually unclear.

The carvings represent a Batik myth. Incestuous twins from a village were punished by being made into part of a tree. Priests called in to help failed and were also made part of the tree. It was finally determined that  wood from the tree would  protect the village. To obtain some of this power shamans (datu) carved staffs resembling the tree. 

Staffs are about 6 feet long. The two uppermost figures represent the twins. The others represent the priests who failed. A powerful substance called pupuk is inserted into holes along the length of the stick by the shaman to bring it to life. They are closed up with resin or a wooden plug.

It is cruel. Pupuk reanimates the spirits of the dead. To make the pupuk, the datu kidnaps a male baby from the enemy’s village. He raises the child to becomes obedient. Then the datu  tells the child to drink boiling molten tin. The child dies immediately and his body is chopped up and mixed with the flesh of animals. The mixture is then left to putrefy. Liquid oozes out and is put in a guri-guri (a cup). The leftover material is burned until it becomes ash. This ash is known as pupuk.

Pupuk is also used to animate the ancestral statues (debata idup) placed around the village to protect it.

The magical properties of the staff become live and dangerous, so the staff is hung under the eaves or has a little house of its own. At ceremonies it is given offerings and the blood of sacrificed animals. The shaman dances in trance with the staff and spits betel juice on it and uses it to ascertain auspicious days and to tell the future.

A rich brown patina covers the entire staff.

In this case a man is riding a mythological animal, usually described as similar to a lion, with a human face.

Map of Sumatra.

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Shaman’s Staff 4 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.