Female Figure
| Origin | Atauro Island |
|---|---|
| Title | Female Figure |
| Date | Ca. 1900 |
| Medium | Wood |
| Dimensions | Object: 26 5/8 × 3 5/8 × 4 1/4 in. (67.6 × 9.2 × 10.8 cm) Overall (includes mount): 27 1/4 × 6 × 4 1/2 in. (69.2 × 15.2 × 11.4 cm) |
| Credit Line | Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 82.32 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
A carved female figure who holds a small childlike figurine in each hand, both of which are nursing. The figure has a large, pointed nose, a conical, multi-tiered hat/headdress, and a necklace or garment around her neck/chest with small ring shapes.
Carved almost certainly as part of a male/female pair, figures like this one and the wood carving tradition of Atauro Island more generally are not well understood by Western scholars, and their exact function is still unknown. Believed to represent an ancestor, part of a founding couple for a particular family, the presence of the suckling babies is a symbol of fertility.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
Request this image
The Eskenazi Museum of Art provides images of its collection, free of charge, upon request.
This artwork is under copyright protection. You can request the image and it will be emailed to you when the request is complete.
Cite this page
"Female Figure | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=82.32