ancestor figures

One of a pair of ancestor tablets representing male and female ancestors. This one depicts the male side and consists of a flat wooden board with a male human figure in elaborate constume carved in relief, arms crossed over the chest, with hands at shoulders. The knees are slightly bent and the feet point sideways, as if in a dance position. Above the tall wide headdress the edge of the tablet is carved with upward-curving projections at each side.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

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