Carved wooden kareau figure
- Made:
- 1880-1925
Carved wooden kareau figure, anthropomorphic, male and standing, painted, from Nicobar Islands, Bay of Bengal, 1880-1925
This kareau figure, or ‘scare-devil’, is from the Nicobar Islands in Southeast Asia. It was created to deter spirits believed to bring bad luck or disease. Nicobarese people placed them outside their homes. Carved by a spiritual healer called a menluana, the figures took various forms. This statue of a man is depicted with his right arm raised as if to hold a spear.
The figure was presented to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum by R. F. Lowis, a colonial administrator in the Andaman Islands, which neighbour the Nicobar Islands.
Details
- Category:
- Asian Medicine
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A655620
- Materials:
- wood
- Measurements:
-
overall weight: x x , , 7.1kg
- type:
- statues
- credit:
- Lowis, F.
