In the high terrain surrounding Mamasa on the island of Sulawesi, high-ranking Toraja erected ornately decorated houses called tongkonan. On Sulawesi, noble houses glorified one’s lineage and created a living connection to ancestors. The longevity of this type of architecture is well documented as a recurrent motif on some ancient Asian Bronze Age kettle drums (Bernet Kempers 1988, pls. 4.02b–c, 4.02e–f, and 16.03). The tongkonan reflected a stratified and symbolic place for humans between the heavenly upper and earthly lower realms. Only in the Mamasa region were figurative carvings placed both on the exterior cardinal corners and the outer walls of an exalted house. Sharply chiseled to pick up natural light, these house facades were placed at high elevation to be viewed from below as sentinels created to exude prowess and prestige.

At the bottom of this composite panel juts the long-horned head of a water buffalo. These animals signify rank, wealth, and ritual obligations, and are a recurring theme in the art of the Toraja. Linking the living and the dead through sacrifice, they are at the very foundation of Toraja ritual and economic existence. Here, sitting astride the buffalo, a clan founder or an important ancestor is memorialized in full battle regalia. This figure and one from the opposite corner of the same house facade, now in the Dallas Museum of Art, are the two finest surviving examples known.