Medicine container

Title
Medicine container
Year/Period
19th century
Region
Karo Batak, North Sumatra
Material
Wood, ceramic, hair, cotton strips, resin or pitch
Dimension
Object size: 5.0 x 5.0 x 19.0 cm
Accession No.
2013-00960
Collection of
Asian Civilisations Museum
Credit Line
Gift of the Mandala Foundation

Batak priests known as datu stored their medicinal concoctions in ceramic or earthen jars with carved wooden stoppers, known as guri-guri. The stoppers of medicine containers were frequently elaborately carved with figures of mythical creatures and ancestors. This example is typical, with a figure riding atop a singa, a creature that conflates elements of the horse, the dragon, the elephant and a mythological understanding of the lion.