Female Figure

Creative-Commons-Lizenz-CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

SA-37053_8D35619140D372487B0A6DBD7ED8A3DB

Bontoc; Luzon; Malay Archipelago

Wood

Width: 16cm Height: 88 cm Depth: 13cm

The collector, Christian Roll, was a German journalist. He reported from the former war zones of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, from the Philippines and many other places in Asia. His autobiography "Straße des Glücks" describes him as an adventurer who was not afraid to report on the most dangerous places. However, it also shows him as a drinker and womanizer who had many “girlfriends” and was often out and about in red-light districts. Because of his lifestyle, he constantly needed money, which he tried to raise on Asian markets by buying antiques that he resold to German collectors. Over time, he developed skills and even published some articles in international collectors' magazines. Dr. Friedrich Kussmaul, the curator for Asia (1955-1971) and later director of the Linden Museum (1971-1986), was a regular Roll customer and bought several hundred objects from him. Rolls correspondence with Kussmaul suggests that he bought the objects from the Cordilleras in the 1970s on Philippine markets and from dealers. He traveled there with William Beyer, the son of the American ethnologist Henry Otley Beyer, a specialist in the indigenous culture of the Cordilleras. Due to intensive campaigns by the evangelical mission in the Cordilleras, many old ritual objects were either destroyed or sold for little money in markets at this time, as their original owners were advised to leave their previous beliefs completely behind them. Text: Georg Noack.

1982

not displayed

Translated from German by Google Translate. Record accessed November 2021.

Related Items