11Story

22 January 2010

Hentakoi

 

Hentakoi figure. Maker/artist unknown. India, Nicobar Is. Before 1897 Photograph. Original carved and painted wood, length 172.7 cm © Trustees of the British Museum As 1897, 1215.11

Figures of this kind appear not to have been representations at all even in an imaginative sense, but rather means for a shaman / doctor to pursue and subdue malevolent spirits causing problems for a client or the community. Those that proved effective might then be retained in the house for their deterrent effect; duds were junked.   Given that eyes, ears, tongue and hands are all shown prominently, this roughly man-sized example with a stylised human face may have suggested a high state of alertness for dealing with trouble.

 
 
 

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