Selected Objects
Rare Karo-Batak Comb, Sumatra, Indonesia
Rare Karo-Batak Comb, Sumatra, Indonesia
This is a 19th C. very rare and small wood stick comb from the Karo-Batak people living on northern Sumatra. The wood sticks and handle are hold together with fibre, lead strips and cotton thread. Excellent condition.
For a similar example collected before 1868 from the collection of Jen Cruse see: Cruse J. "The Comb: Its History and Development", Robert Hale ltd, 2007, p. 118, figure 3.118. Other ref. literature: Van Cutsem "A World of Head Ornaments", Skira 2005. A. Sibeth " The Batak: peoples of island Sumatra, Thames & Hudson, 1991.
L: c. 11 cm
Provenance: This comb was collected in situ c. 1938 by Rolf de Maré. He travelled in the late 30´s together with Claire Holt and Hans Evert to document and film dances on Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Java, Nias, the Celebes, Timor and Papua New Guinea for his Dance Museum (AID) in Paris.
Rolf de Maré (1888-1964) Important Swedish art collector and leader of the Ballets Suédois in Paris 1920-1925. In 1933 he founded the world´s first dance museum in Paris, AID. He opened the Dance Museum in Stockholm 1953. He traveled during his life all over the world to document dances and collect art and dance related items.
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