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Objects

Anthropomorphic image (to heal breast pains). Nanais

Title:

Anthropomorphic image (to heal breast pains)

Ethnic groups:

Nanais

Territory:

river Anyui, Ussuri Krai

Date:

late 19th - early 20th century

Collectors-person:
Arseniev Vladimir K.
Material:

Wood; cloth: cotton; threads: plant fiber: cotton

Dimensions:

height 10.7; width 2.9

Number:

РЭМ 1871-3

Annotation:

Sevun Botsu (or Buchu), a curing cult object. An anthropomorphic figurine with a pointed head, without arms, the body is wrapped in a cloth rag. It serves as a personal helper ghost. In shamanism it is the shaman’s main patron ghost, his guide across the worlds. It could once in a while be used as a curing idol. This image was made on the shaman’s advice for a man with a sore chest, and the sick man always carried it with him.

Albums:
“... You can rely on me”: Vladimir Arseniev’s collections in the Russian Museum of Ethnography
Rus:
Изображение антропоморфное (для больного грудью). Нанайцы