18 Batak Masterworks in Yale University Art Gallery
18 Batak Masterworks in
Yale University Art Gallery
Curated by Steven G. Alpert
Yale University Art Gallery's collection of Indo-Pacific Art is an elite destination where the traditional arts and material cultures of the Malay Indonesian archipelago are well-curated and beautifully displayed. Yale's digital collections database is also exemplary, as is the museum's dedication to 'open access' sharing. Yale's magnificent Indonesian art collection is too large, too diverse, and too important to present in a single overview or offering.
Looking back at the early and formative years of the Indo-Pacific collection, superb Batak material was always synonymous with the collection's inception and overall commitment to quality. The rich corpus of Batak entries has grandly expanded since the 1990s. It is only fitting that our first concentrated view of what is arguably America's most expansive and essential collection of island Southeast Asian art begins with a focus on a great collector's manifest passion for Batak art.
The Batak reflect a broad and creative cultural group that today numbers some eight million souls (2020). Batak material culture was already well known and being collected by European ethnographers and missionaries during the colonial period. In the early 1970s, a significant amount of old Batak art found its way into the art trade, mostly being exported to Europe. There, gallerists and aficionados proceeded to expose and popularize this material. Many of the premier examples came out of Indonesia in the 1970s, and like the best pieces collected in the 19th and early 20th century also exhibited good age and fine forms. Often, their rich surfaces and deep patination attracted a Western audience accustomed to admiring the polish and richness of the wooden surfaces found in the realm of African 'tribal' art. It was during this decade that many of the core holdings of the Indo-Pacific collection were acquired, at a time when exemplary material was still available, and what would, over time, become seminal collections were actively being developed.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
1
Puppet | Si Gale Gale
Toba peoples
18th – 19th century
Wood with string
ILE2012.30.223
2
Puppet | Si Gale Gale
Toba peoples
18th – 19th century
Wood with string
ILE2012.30.224
3
Mask | Topeng
Wood, brass and hair; carved
ILE2012.30.526
4
Priest’s Staff | Tunggal Panaluan
Toba peoples
19th century
Wood with iron, cotton thread, rattan webbing, hide, hair, brass, and silver
ILE2012.30.145
5
Priest’s Staff | Tunggal Panaluan
Toba peoples
19th century
Wood with iron, cotton thread, rattan webbing, hide, hair, brass, and silver
ILE2012.30.146
6
Datu’s Staff Finial
Mid-18th to mid-19th century
Metal
ILE2019.12.441
7
Magic Horn | Buli Buli
Karo peoples
19th century
Mountain antelope horn and metal
ILE2012.30.235
8
Bullet Holder | Paru-Paru / Baba Ni Onggang
19th century
Wood, buffalo horn and lead (left);
and buffalo horn (right)
ILE2012.30.531
9
Datu’s Container | Perminaken
Toba peoples
19th century
Bamboo, buffalo horn and metal
ILE2014.8.76
10
Jar Stopper | Guri Guri
Toba peoples
18th century
Wood
ILE2012.30.239
11
Female Figure | Pagar
Wood, metal, tin and cord
ILE2012.30.849
12
Jar Lid | Perminaken
Wood, hair, resin and metal studs
ILE2012.30.233
13
Heirloom Chest | Hombung
19th century
Wood
ILE2014.8.76
14
Jar Lid
19th century
Wood
ILE2019.12.442
15
Priest’s Box
18th – 19th century
Wood, bamboo, and metal
ILE2012.30.237
16
Lute | Hasapi
Toba peoples
19th century
Wood
ILE2012.30.246
17
Bag
Weft twining; cotton
ILE2006.4.169
18
Pig with Magical Marks
19th century
Wood with nails
ILE2012.30.881
All artworks and images presented in this feature are the property of Yale University Art Gallery.
© Yale University Art Gallery