Product Description

Old Sumatran Medicine Container 1

Material: Bamboo, wood
Style: Batak people, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Height 25 cm, Diameter 6.5 cm
Order Number: MHSOSMC1

Medicine container, etched with geometric motifs, with carved wooden stopper in the form of a man riding a mythological animal, usually described as similar to a lion, with a human face.

Magician priests keep their magical brews (pupuk) in medicine containers. They often use hollow bamboo tubes and the open end is stopped with a wooden plug, the top being usually carved in the shape of a human figure.

The medicine containers were carried by a cord attached to the man’s belt or over his shoulder.

Early – mid 20th century.

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