Details

LOT 1977

Bronze Anthropomorphic Clothed Ancestral Effigy

SIBERIA, CIRCA 17TH-18TH CENTURY A.D.

5 3/4 in. (105 grams, 14.8 cm).

Anthropomorphic figure (ittarma) with low-relief facial features, radiating beard, raised rim, bronze lantern-shaped pendant on cord around the neck; outer garment a sleeved coat in silken textile with open front; beneath, a fabric undergarment.

Provenance

From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.

Literature

See Bogordayeva A.A. Features of images representing the deceased of the Northern Khanty and Mansi in the second half of the 20th — early 21st century in Вестник археологии, антропологии и этнографии (Tyumen Scientific Centre SB RA) no.2(45), pp. 117–131.

Footnotes

Such effigies, called itterma or ittarma are regarded as a temporary vessel for the soul of a deceased person. They were intended to maintain contact between the surviving descendants and the spirit world.