Perminangken (container for magical substances)

The singa (mythical creature) carved on the wooden stopper of this perminangken has the classic horse-like head with a long muzzle and mane, a prominent human-like nose, horns indicated by raised ridges, and the body of a bird standing on two bent legs. The graceful tail curves upward and the folded wings are decorated with geometric motifs suggesting feathers. The avian elements derive primarily from the chicken—an important sacrificial animal that figured prominently in many Batak rituals—and the hornbill, an indigenous bird that functioned symbolically as a spiritual guardian and guide. In this carved stopper, the visual coupling of the chicken-hornbill and the singa—creatures associated, respectively, with the upper and lower worlds—can be interpreted as a metaphor for the union of the two realms, mediated through the middle world of the living.


This brown-glazed ceramic container was probably manufactured in southern China or Vietnam between the fourteenth and the sixteenth century. Before the influence of Christianity and Islam, containers for magical substances were a central component of the ritual paraphernalia of Toba Batak religious specialists (datu). Often consisting, as in the work seen here, of imported ceramic vessels sealed with locally carved wood stoppers, such containers were primarily used to hold pukpuk, a powerful substance typically derived from specially prepared human and animal remains. To enliven sacred objects such as ritual staffs and human figures, pukpuk was applied to the surface or inserted into holes in the object that were later plugged, sealing the power within.


The Toba Batak, one of six groups among the Batak peoples of northern Sumatra, live in the mountainous highlands surrounding Lake Toba (the birthplace of the Batak, according to oral histories and myths). The Batak maintained trade relations with their Malay neighbors living on the coast but otherwise remained relatively isolated until the 18th and 19th centuries when Dutch and British traders, along with German missionaries, established operations in Sumatra. Although nearly all Batak today are Christian or Muslim, they formerly recognized diverse supernatural beings, including deities, ancestors, and malevolent spirits. The primary religious figures in Batak society were male ritual specialists, called datu by the Toba Batak, who acted as intermediaries between the human and spiritual worlds. Much of Toba Batak sacred art centered on the creation and adornment of objects that would be used by the datu for divination, curing ceremonies, malevolent magic, and other rituals. Among the most important were ceremonial staffs, books of ritual knowledge, and a variety of containers used to hold magical substances, such as this perminangken.


　

References


Capistrano-Baker, Florina H. Art of Island Southeast Asia. The Fred and Rita Richman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, pp. 54, fig. 24


Kjellgren, Eric. How to Read Oceanic Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014, pp. 107, fig. 50


Sibeth, Achim. The Batak. London: Thames and Hudson, 1991.