Context (Field collection)
Collected by Walter William Skeat.
Event Date
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

Context (Related Documents)
The 14th annual report (1898) reads, '850. The Slmangat padi, rice-soul, or Malay Harvest- Maiden' is made of the first seven ears of rice which are cut. The Pawang, medicine man, performs this ceremony, and these ears, wrapped in a white cloth, and bound with seven particoloured threads, are laid in a basket together with a wax taper, a candle-nut, a stone, an iron nail, and an egg. Protected by an umbrella it is then carried from the field to the house, where it is carefully laid on a new sleeping-mat, with pillows, &c. At its feet are placed the three first baskets of rice reaped. The whole of these objects are covered with a white cloth, and the ears forming the ‘rice- maiden’ are eventually trodden out and the grains are mixed with the seed reserved for next year’s sowing'.
Event Date 6/6/1898
Author: maa

Context (Amendments / updates)
The card gives the reference '28Q-T'. This may be an obsolete box number, or part of an obsolete system of classification; in any case, its significance is at present unclear.
Event Date 29/1/1987
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

Description (Physical description)
Model of the Rice Soul or Malay Harvest Maiden. Three baskets of first fruits
Event Date 29/1/1987
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Z 33391.1, Rice basket, 140 x 130 x 62 mm; 28 Q [field coll. no.]
Z 33391.2, Rice basket, 155 x 150 x 68 mm; 850 [Skeat I Coll.]; 28 R [field coll. no.]
Z 33391.3, Rice basket, 175 x 175 x 88 mm; 850 [Skeat I Coll.]; 28 S [field coll. no.]
Z 33391.4, Pillow, 200 x 80 x 54 mm; 28 T [field coll. no] Z 33391.5, Cloth, folded, no measurements taken. Z 33391.6, Rice Ear, 130 x 90 x 35mm. Z 33391.7, Taper, 135mm. Z 33391.8, Nail, 60mm. Z 33391.9, Stone (rounded), 35mm. Z 33391.10, Stone (rectangular), 38mm. Z 33391.11, Egg, 60 x 40mm. Z 33391.12, Rice basket, 170 x 110 x 80 mm; 850 [Skeat I Coll.]; 28 T [field coll. no.]

Event Date 17/9/2025
Author: Anne Doering