Padrarulj (ancestor figure)
Artwork Details
- Title: Padrarulj (ancestor figure)
- Artist: Paiwan artist
- Date: 19th–early 20th century
- Geography: Taiwan
- Culture: Paiwan people
- Medium: Wood, porcelain
- Dimensions: H. 50 3/4 in. × W. 15 in. × D. 5 in. (128.9 × 38.1 × 12.7 cm)
H. (with mount) 54 1/2 in. (138.4 cm) - Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 1988
- Object Number: 1988.143.7
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
Audio

1772. Padrarulj (ancestor figure), Paiwan artist
Calivat Gadu
CALIVAT GADU (English translation): The eyes and mouth are diamond shaped, which means the eyes are able to see in all directions, and the mouth is able to speak to all directions.
KATERINA TEAIWA (NARRATOR): That was Calivat Gadu, Deputy Minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan.
CALIVAT GADU (English translation): I was born and raised in a Paiwan community. So I’ve seen this kind of figure in the communities very often.
They only belonged to the families of the chieftains and the nobility. Usually they were attached to the main pillar of the house, and also the granary.
The artwork combines the features of male and female. The upper body is that of a woman. But it wears armbands, which only men are supposed to wear. And on the lower body, it wears men’s traditional Paiwan pants. It symbolizes how both men and women are working together to support the family.
When an object combines male and female features, it means wisdom. In the Paiwan language, we call it Zho-tsao, the person with wisdom.
The combination also refers to the umbilical cord that connects heaven and earth, and human and ancestral spirits.
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