Another textile from Eduard von der Heydt's former collection is displayed in this showcase. It is a men's shawl, a so-called selimut, made of cotton and probably woven in Central Timor at the beginning of the 20th century. Different lines, narrower and wider, are combined in yellow, red, brown, green, purple, orange and dark blue. Four panels are decorated with stylised animal motifs that are abstract quadrupeds. The wider stripes form a kind of spiral. The fringes are bordered by a coloured fringe that is common on the island of Timor.
The red and yellow fringes show that European yarns were also used in this textile. The ikat technique, for which Indonesia was and still is an important centre, was used for parts of the shawl. Ikat is a decorative technique in which the warp and weft threads are dyed according to a pattern before weaving. Each island has its own characteristic designs and colours.
The three wooden objects come from the former colonies of German New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) and the Solomon Islands, which were part of the German Empire and Great Britain in the past. These are ceremonial objects. A "Korwar" figure from Western New Guinea represents a recently deceased person and served as a supernatural receptacle for the spirit of the ancestor. These ancestor figures were depicted in a sitting or standing position with a prominent head and arrow-shaped nose. Korwars were kept and venerated in the home of the deceased, but were also taken on sea voyages or worn as amulets. These images of the ancestors played a central role in everyday life, protecting the living. The equestrian figure is probably a fragment of an ornamental decoration. The paddle, with a dark brown patina, has a carved mask-like head at the junction of the shaft and blade. It was probably used as a ceremonial object rather than as a paddle to propel a boat.
