Beautiful hand carved container from a karbau (water buffalo) leg bone, made by the Philippine Ifugao tribe.
Containers like this are used to store lime powder in (calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide made from ground and burnt sea shells, mollusks or coral), an ingredient used in the practice of betel nut chewing. The chewing of betel nuts, the seeds from the areca palm, is an ancient and very common practice all over the Asian continent, especially in the Philippines.
Betel nuts are sliced up and wrapped in betel leaves together with other spices and herbs, often also with tobacco. The leaves are coated in the lime powder and this concoction (locally called 'paan') is then chewed upon for its stimulant and mildly psycho-active effects
This bone container is a beautiful example of Ifugao tribal craftmanship. It is handcarved with decorations of a Bulul deity. Bulul are a special class of Ifugao ancestral spirits, they are worshipped as deities that protect the very important rice fields. In this container, the body of the Bulul deity is carved into the bone, and the head is formed by the wooden cap.
Also the depiction of a lizard can be seen. The lizard is a very common motive in Ifugao tribal art. In most villages many different species of lizards can be found, which are revered as sacred teacher animals, sent down by the gods from the Upperworlds to monitor and guard the condition of the rice fields.
Sizes; total height approximately 23,5 centimeters (measured including the cap). Diameter measured at the broadest area (the bottom) approximately 12 centimeters. Total weight; 485 grams.
