Indonesian Fragment From Rice Pounding Vessel, with Face Motif

Somebody put a face on the rice pounder. Lunch gained a witness.

This fragment from a rice pounding vessel, with a face motif, comes from Sumatra, Indonesia, and dates to the 19th century. It is hardwood. Across Indonesia, rice was long pounded by hand in heavy wooden mortars and troughs, and the rhythm of it was a daily sound in many villages. The wood is now deeply checked and weathered, grey with traces of rust-red. A long straight nose runs down from a heavy brow. One eye is cut in crisp concentric rings, the other nearly lost. Twenty-eight inches high.

The good eye has not blinked. It does not look likely to start.