Maartje Timmermans describes how in 1858 Johannes Waleson sold his collection of 51 objects, including ‘weapons, tools and rarities’ and an extensive handwritten catalogue to a museum for a thousand guilders.
An important object is a Tunggal Panaluan, a staff used by the Batak on the island of Sumatra, an important attribute of a datu, who possesses the Batak’s medicinal, scientific and ritual knowledge. He uses the staff to perform communal rituals, such as war ceremonies and praying for a good harvest.
How did this valuable staff end up in the museum in the city of Den Bosch?
She also wrote a popularised version of her thesis in magazine InBrabant.
