Subject: to kapua 'big man' warrior
Setting: tribal warfare, anti-colonial resistance, Sulawesi highlands late 19th - mid-20thc
Object: tora-tora necklace
* Asmat Collection
* Dallas Museum of Art > Pacific Islands
"Necklace (tora-tora)
Indonesia: South Sulawesi, Toraja people
19th century
Wood, tusks, rattan, and fiber...
The tora-tora is a symbol of masculinity, fierceness, and invulnerability. Male dancers wore it as part of a highly stylized costume in a war dance, together with brass versions of water buffalo horns, which signified prestige and success in warfare. It was also worn by the funerary effigies called tau tau. The natural curve of the tusks such as these may have inspired the spiral design that is prominent in Toraja sculpture and textiles."
