Antique Majapahit Rare Terracotta Camel

Region: East Java  Indonesia

Period: 13th - 15th Century   Height: 13cm / 5 inches   Length: 12cm / 4.75 inches

Height including stand: 19cm / 7.5 inches

This genuine Majapahit Empire terracotta camel is to be enjoyed as part of ancient Javanese history - and will make an excellent and interesting gift, ideal for desk or shelf display. It was acquired in a wooden crate of many terracotta's several decades ago, along with other nice effigies (listed on eBay) and a large assortment of terracotta fragments - as shown in the photo example.

Having resided in South East Asia and the Pacific region for several decades I've a developed passion for and a trading interest in artefacts of the region. This artefact is part of a large collection that I’m selling to downsize.

The Arabs brought their goods by camel to the region centuries before the Majapahit Empire. There is also evidence that in the 12th century Muslim merchants traded in Sumatra - and inscriptions on tombstones show that royalty of the island soon after adopted Islam. 

This Majapahit ancient hand-crafted terracotta camel was excavated amongst the shrines of Mount Penanggungan, East Java. Terracotta pottery was an important craft during the Majapahit era. Many figurines have been found broken, suggesting their use as effigies or religious offerings to the gods for bountiful harvests. It is also thought that they were secular play objects, cast aside once broken. This camel figurine is very rare compared to the many broken artefacts, especially headless figures or heads without bodies.

The Majapahit Empire of Eastern Java flourished during the 13th-16th centuries. It was a powerful and wealthy maritime Empire that controlled most of the trade routes through the Straits of Malacca and the Java Sea.