Ancestor Figure (Iene)
Arts of the Pacific Islands
To honor deceased family members, villagers kept carved wooden figures to contain the souls of their ancestors in the family house. This seated figure (iene) from Leti has elongated limbs drawn close to the body and rests on a pedestal. The extension from the forehead may indicate the rank of the deceased.
MEDIUM
Wood, pigment
DATES
early 20th century
DIMENSIONS
22 7/8 x 4 7/8 x 5 in. (58.1 x 12.4 x 12.7 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
42.338
CREDIT LINE
Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Ancestor figure of brown wood showing a seated human figure with knees drawn up and arms crossed on the knees. The whole figure, especially the legs, is elongated. Ear ornaments are represented as well as a little crest on the head. The eyes and mouth are painted grey. The base of the figure is in tiers with a typical Indonesian scroll on several parts of the tiers.
Condition: chipped in several places.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Ancestor Figure (Iene), early 20th century. Wood, pigment, 22 7/8 x 4 7/8 x 5 in. (58.1 x 12.4 x 12.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund, 42.338. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 42.338_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 42.338_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
