Skip to main content
Shrine Statue, 19th Century
Miao or Yao culture; China
Wood; 15 1/2 × 4 3/8 × 4 3/4 in.
2020…
Shrine Statue
Shrine Statue, 19th Century
Miao or Yao culture; China
Wood; 15 1/2 × 4 3/8 × 4 3/4 in.
2020…
Shrine Statue, 19th Century Miao or Yao culture; China Wood; 15 1/2 × 4 3/8 × 4 3/4 in. 2020.8.28 Anonymous Gift

Shrine Statue

ClassificationsSculpture
Culture Miao
Culture Yao
Date19th Century
Made AtChina, Asia
MediumWood
Dimensions15 1/2 × 4 3/8 × 4 3/4 in. (39.4 × 11.1 × 12.1 cm)
Credit LineAnonymous Gift
Object number2020.8.28
DescriptionThis is a shrine sculpture used by the Miao culture of China. The Miao were traditionally animistic and practiced ancestor worship with interwoven elements of Taoism and Buddhism. Every Miao home would have had an altar to spirits of good fortune, dab xwm kab. Mostly this would have just involved a rice paper sheet but in some cases and in the special altars used by shaman other carved figures such as this would be present as well. This particular figure bears a striking resemblance to the Yao wooden statues made up until the 1940s. Part of sets of three used in the altars of high ranking priests these figures came in sets of three with an ancestor sculpture, a mounted messenger and seated dignitary figures. These statues were imbued with souls by placing small silver strings into a hidden compartment in the figure.
On View
Not on view
Collections
Shrine Statue, 19th Century
Miao culture; China
Wood; 16 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 4 in.
2020.8.25
Anon…
Miao
19th Century
Standing Fetish Figure, late 19th to early 20th Century
Chamba culture; Nigeria
Wood, patina …
Chamba
late 19th to early 20th Century
Grade Statue, early 20th Century
Ambrym Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, Melanesia
Tree fer…
early 20th Century
Grade Statue, early 20th Century
Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, Melanesia
Tree fern root, ochre and …
early 20th Century
Grade Statue, early 20th Century
Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, Melanesia
Tree fern root, ochre and …
early 20th Century
Grade Statue, 20th Century
Ambrym Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, Melanesia
Tree fern root…
20th Century
Ikenga Figure, 20th Century
Igbo culture; Nigeria
Wood and paint; 20 1/2 x 7 x 5 in.
91.52.1…
Igbo
20th Century
Female Figure, mid 20th Century
Jimmy Mtoched (Palauan); Koror Island, Palau, Micronesia
Wood…
Jimmy Mtoched
mid 20th Century
Monkey-Man Figure, mid 20th Century
Jimmy Mtoched (Palauan); Koror Island, Palau, Micronesia
…
Jimmy Mtoched
mid 20th Century
Monkey-Man Figure, mid 20th Century
Palau, Micronesia
Wood and shell; 9 × 5 1/8 × 4 3/4 in.
…
mid 20th Century
Monkey-Man Figure, mid 20th Century
Palau, Micronesia
Wood and shell; 7 3/4 × 5 1/8 × 4 3/4 i…
mid 20th Century
Monkey-Man Figure, mid 20th Century
Palau, Micronesia
Wood and shell; 10 × 3 × 4 in.
2019.17…
mid 20th Century