**First Time At Auction**

Southeast Asia, Philippines, Luzon Island, Ifugao culture, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. An impressive wood male figure representing the rice deity bulul shown standing nude with delineated genitalia. Bulul are highly stylized effigies that are meant to spiritually guard important crops like rice and are believed to embody ancestral spirits believed to imbue power upon the people. Typically depicted standing or sitting, male and female Bulul statues are often found together, each featuring gendered symbols such as mortars and pestles. Among Ifugao figurative sculptures, Bulul statues are the most renowned for their simplified form and dark surfaces. The statues are often placed in the granary to guard the harvest, and the insect holes that are across the surface are commonly found in authentic / used bulul, from the insects that inhabit the granaries! The wood is often smeared with animal fat and blood as offerings during the planting season, taking on a dark patina, as seen here. Size: 6" L x 6" W x 22.75" H (15.2 cm x 15.2 cm x 57.8 cm)

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, acquired from 2000 to 2010

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#184660

Old insect activity - holes and losses to the base and abrasions. One missing ear is professionally restored from wood and reattached. Stable pressure fissures throughout. Wear and weathering to the surface from exposure to elements.