Sculptural Arts of the Nicobar Islands
Sculptural Arts of the Nicobar Islands
Curated by Steven G. Alpert
This month, Art of the Ancestors focuses on the little-known sculptural traditions that once flourished in the central and southern Nicobar Islands. These islands lie strategically in the Bay of Bengal, just 93 miles from Aceh in northern Sumatra. It's an area that was settled in remote times by various peoples. Linguistically, the local languages are from the Austroasiatic family of speakers and are related to languages found from Burma to Cambodia to the remote hill peoples of India and Southeast Asia. While India long dominated the Nicobars, underneath the influence of the subcontinent, older or additional cultural strains and habits similar to those found in peninsular Malaysian or traditional Indonesian cultural practices and sensibilities abound. While many of the most appealing carvings display 'Indonesian' sensibilities, others seem to dramatically reflect a strong mix of Indic and European influences.
The islands' name is said to derive from ancient Chola or Tamil and translates to "as those who run naked'' when referring to Nicobar's traditional inhabitants. Despite the sobriquet, the Nicobars were highly valued for their mother-of-pearl, ambergris, profuse harvests of coconuts, and a vast array of valuable native produce, including edible bird nests. A historical 'who's who' mentions the Nicobar Islands beginning with Ptolemy's map of the world (ca. 150 AD), followed by many later references in ancient Chinese, Arab, and Indian annals. This was due to the islands' natural bounty and their important location on the trade routes between India, coastal Southeast Asia, and Indonesia. Marco Polo sailed through the Andamans and Nicobars in 1292 on his way to India. While no lasting European settlement of import was ever established in central or southern Nicobar, by the 15th century, Western traders, pirates, and diversely denominated Christian missionaries had already begun to arrive there seeking a source of supplies, the island's abundant natural resources, and for the latter to collect souls. On the heels of Portuguese, Dutch, and Danish involvement in the Nicobars, the British Crown took control in 1869. Today, these islands are an integral part of India (since 1947).
Though the central and southern Nicobars islands were visited over a long period, early detailed references to its traditional inhabitants, their lifeways, and, in particular, their material culture are relatively scant. A good overview or introduction for our readers, however, appears in the 1963 Annual Report of the Brooklyn Museum by Susanna Ekholm. From pages 49-64, a statue from Nicobar that had recently been acquired from the well-known Parisian dealer, Charles Ratton, is well described, along with intriguing references gleaned from the work of Lieutenant-Colonel R. C. Temple and C.B. Kloss. Temple, a polyglot, was a distinguished Indian administrator, soldier, honored author, and amateur anthropologist. He assembled collections for the British Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford, England) and operated his own private museum until it was disbanded in 1921. C.B. Kloss was a noted zoologist whose expertise was in Southeast Asian mammals and birds. (Ref: R.C. Temple: Report on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands & C.B Kloss: The Andaman and Nicobars).
From them and other early observers, we know that the Nicobarese were obsessed with all forms of spirits or iwi, particularly in the south, where great attention was evidently centered on containing the many malignant variants of iwi said to exist there. Iwi always had to be well-managed. In this regard, the role of the village or household ritual shaman or menluana was a paramount position. As 'mediators,' they were dedicated to healing illness and guiding ancestral wisdom. Most importantly, they combatted and managed iwi within a complicated worldview in which spirits could emanate, fly, and arrive from all directions at any time. Early images exist of decorated 'spirit boats' that could be used for reconnaissance and to trap another village's negative forces. These crafts could also be employed by the menluana to lade and store malignant iwi, which were subsequently made rid of by sending them out to sea. Other photographs depict their beehive-shaped raised platform houses strung along the shoreline. Spaces in front of these structures are punctuated with tall bamboo or wooden pole constructions (kania) decorated with coconuts, raffia, phytomedicinal plants, and diverse leaves. Not unlike the gaily decorated poles or penjor of Balinese renown that celebrate renewal and protectively bless ceremonies, similar-looking Nicobarese poles were said to be used for protection and to ward off malevolent spirits and foreign intrusions, particularly those that might be seaborn.
In the realm of carving, there seems, even in the 19th century, to have been several classes of carvings that are referenced by early observers for their distinct zoomorphic or anthropomorphic forms. The first and most dramatic are apotropaic creations that were called henta-koi. These are often phantasmagorical, mythological creatures or "devil scarers" (as they were named by 19th-century Europeans), who aided the menluana in locating and neutralizing iwi in order to create positive, restorative outcomes.
"They are generally placed or suspended in the hut, but a few are
sometimes to be seen in front of the huts. The object of these
representations of animals, birds, and fishes is to invoke their
assistance and goodwill in the endeavor of the menluana to
discover the whereabouts of the offending spirit, and to alarm the
later with the appearance of these effigies in the event of their
venturing to repeat their visits." (Temple: 1901)
The most famous and most often reproduced of these henta-koi appears in the British Museum handbook of 1925. With its exaggerated squatting hunkered posture, raffia lavallière, and aggressive face with a gaping mouth, gnashing teeth and pearl shell inlaid eyes — this statue is an iconic and dynamic sculpture. An identical figure was illustrated in the Journal of the Ethnographic Society in 1869-70. It was once part of the famous Christy Collection that is now housed in the British Museum. The British Museum has several other similar statues. The same J.E.S. bulletin reported that this type of Nicobar statue was collected in the southern Nicobars and was "the most characteristic of the figures" found in this area. Brooklyn's aforementioned statue, along with those being stewarded by the Greenwich Museum, and the examples housed in the Royal Scottish and Pitt Rivers Museums may be related to one another.
At first glance, these figures featuring human-like faces, woven coconut husk war helmets, and backside armor appear to be anthropomorphic. Still, the reverse shape depicts a turtle or tortoise's carapace, possibly suggesting a truly fantastic zoomorphic creature. Temple describes such mythical turtle-like creatures as being named "kalipau" and notes that they were reported 'to exist in the jungle's interior on Katshall island.' Other carved, painted, and shell-eyed figures recorded by Temple were said to represent zoomorphic mermaids (shawala), mermen (shamiral), fish-eagle (kalang), iguana (huye), and garfish (ilu) and were among a menluana's many potential 'helpers'.
In the British Museum, there resides a carved capital, a free-standing I-shaped Nicobarese shrine populated with human figures but dominated by a central ladder. This same type of altar can be seen in an 1859 engraving of the interior of a Nicobar house that appeared the following year in a weekly travel journal, Le Tour du Monde (Around the World), depicting a similar shrine with a ladder as an integral post support. Temple, who collected many of the henta-koi illustrated here in 1897, also describes shrines with a ladder (halak) as being used for the shaman's spirit to climb skywards while searching for malicious iwi with the idea that they could not only be lurking on the land and in the sea, but identified in the air or atmosphere.
A talented ladder-climbing menluana could transport himself and discover the right henta-koi to counteract any malignant spirit. As in many places in Indonesia, calls or ceremonies aided by shamanic mediation were used to coax a patient's errant soul back into their body. These practices ensured healing and recovery. These figures were said to aid the menluana in this arduous task and added to the aura of protection created around both the patient and the house's inhabitants. Once a figure lost its efficacy, it might have been replaced with a new one, abruptly discarded, or traded to Europeans.
In addition to 'devil scarers,' another type of figure frequently mentioned in the literature is a kareau, whose subject matter tends to be more anthropomorphic. Two of the most unusual carvings reproduced here are from the Wellcome Medical Collection (Science Museum, London). Both are imposing, well-carved winged figures of a variety carved solely by menlauna. This type of statue was reportedly then placed just outside the house's main door as added protection for the dwelling's inhabitants to scare away any illness-causing spirits that might be lurking about. The British Museum's notes on the tag from a related statue reads: "They may (also) represent the form of the deceased menlauna or the head of a family." The first is wearing a European top hat, a frequently encountered prestige motif, and the second is clothed more fully in Western garb.
Perhaps the most common type of kareau is emblematic of what we consider a typical Nicobar figure. These are generally large, partially painted figures, a few of which can be seen in colonial-era photographs. This kareau style is often posed with one hand raised high as if to hoist a spear. In this guise and its female form, these statues frequently show a decidedly Indian influence derived from the subcontinent's deities and folk art. They range from crude exercises to beautifully carved figures with smooth bodies and finely delineated musculature.
Of surprising note are smaller indoor figures, also known as kareau. These were placed on an altar facing a house's entryway. Père Barbe wrote in 1846: "The Nicobarians have also in their houses idols of the most ugly shape, representative of men and women; some with European dress and some with the scanty dress of natives. They (the statues) have short and thin legs, and a large belly, and from their necks hang spoons, coconuts, etc." Ekholm further observed, "Even at this early time, then, both styles seem to have existed (the henta-koi and kareau) together, although at the beginning of the 20th century, the grotesque figures may have decreased in importance." These insights make sense as this decline coincided with traditional islanders becoming strict Anglicans.
The items illustrated derive from coastal locations on islands in central and southern Nicobar. All of these carvings were acquired by the second half of the 19th to the early 20th century before these traditions ceased to be practiced. What impresses one the most regarding these entries is the sheer imagination and exuberant creativity of the best henta-koi in conjunction with the grace of the most compelling kareau.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
1
Scare Devil | Henta-koi
National Museums Scotland
Finder: Edge, Joseph, Captain, 1867 (fl.)
Agent: McNair, John Frederick Adolphus, Major, 1828 - 1910 Royal Navy
19th century
Teak, shell, pigment
63.57A.1966.410
2
Statue of Stylized Bird Head with Man Body
Science Museum Group
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Wood, shell, pigment
A645496
3
Fish Figure | Henta-koi
The British Museum
Donated by Lt-Col Sir Richard Carnac Temple in 1897
Wood, pigment
As1897,1215.29
4
Scare Devil | Henta-koi
Brooklyn Museum
Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and Museum Collection Fund
19th century
Wood, shell, pigment
63.57
5
Carved and Painted Wooden Board with Corner Projections
Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
Field collected by Edward Horace Man
19th century
Wood, pigment
1884.56.84
6
Male Figure with Wings and European Clothes | Kareau
Science Museum Group
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
19th century-early 20th century
Wood, shell, pigment
A655618
Lowis, F.
7
Standing Protective Figure | Kareau
The British Museum
Donated by Lt-Col Sir Richard Carnac Temple in 1897
Wood, cotton, pigment
As1897,1215.1
8
Charm in the Form of a Bird | Henta-koi
Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
Field collected by Richard Carnac Temple
19th century
Wood, pigment, cloth, plant seed or nut
1897.56.11
9
Scare Devil | Henta-koi
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Chatham Dockyard Collection
Late 19th century
Wood, pigment, cloth
AAA2828
10
Guardian Figure | Henta-koi
The British Museum
Donated by Lt-Col Sir Richard Carnac Temple in 1897
Wood, pigment, mother-of-pearl, fiber
As1897,1215.26.a-b
11
Seated Female Figure | Kareau
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Collected and donated by Arthur Russell Hulbert
Wood, nautilus shell, pigment
E 1906.91
12
Wooden Figure of the Mythical Kalipau Creature | Henta-koi
Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
Field collected by John Henry Hutton
Late 19th century-early 20th century
Wood, shell, pigment
1983.7.1
13
Zoomorphic Figure | Henta-koi
The British Museum
Donated by Dr. W Fletcher in 1922
Wood, shell, metal
As1922,-.1
14
Female Figure | Kareau
Weltmuseum Wien
19th century
Wood, pigment
3642
15
Male Figure with Wings and Top Hat | Kareau
Science Museum Group
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
19th century- early 20th century
Wood, pigment, cloth
A655619
Lowis, F.
16
Guardian Figure | Henta-koi
The British Museum
Donated by Lt-Col Sir Richard Carnac Temple in 1897
Wood, pigment
As1897,1215.13
17
Seated Female Figure | Kareau
Science Museum Group
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
19th century-early 20th century
Wood, shell
A9810
All artworks and images presented in this feature are the property of the attributed museums.