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Item: #TRA04 19th century Rice God (Bulol) HT: 49 CMS WIDTH: 17CMS circumference: 28 cms Hardwood with ritual encrustation 19th century or earlier. Banaue-Mayaoyao

This important 19^th Century Bulol was bought from the heirs of William Beyer, son of the late ,great anthropologist H. Otley Beyer. It was collected by William, a prominent tribal art dealer, now deceased. The piece is remarkable for the highly stylized depiction of the seated deity. The head is the focal point of the sculpture and is depicted as a smooth, slanted oblong sphere peaking at the pointed top if the traditional headdress. The base, though carved in the traditional mortar-shaped form, is a series of planes and facets completing a near triangle. The entire piece is heavily coated with a crusty ritual patina grown smooth and shiny with much handling. The piece can stand alongside the best of Dogon art, in its subtle and almost poetic depiction of the human body. The deeply meditative air of the bulol is accentuated by the fact that the ritual patina has obscured the eyes, leaving only a suggestion of the face. The bottom of the base shows the concentric rings as it was carved from the center of the Narra tree (Pterocarpus Indica, a hardwood sacred to the Ifugao). This last feature is a hallmark of most truly old and archaic Bulol.

Price: USD 5,000.00

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