Borneo - Bahau Dayak Beaded Baby Carrier Panel - Upper Mahakam - #190

$4,200.00

Description:

This rare panel features bold, colorful graphics in both the foreground and background. Athough it is tempting to read our own meanings into the various motifs, the Dayak probably viewed them as powerful, traditional forms whose talismanic potential had already been tested.
Beaded panels of this nature were attached to the backs of rattan baby carriers as protective shields capable of deflecting negative spirits that might hurt the child’s body or steal its soul. It often took years or decades to assemble enough beads in the desired colors and sizes. The presence of shades of yellow, green and black indicates that the shades were likely obtained in different batches over time and/or from multiple sources.
Probably made it the late 19th century, the panel closely resembles one published in black and white in Plate 69 (a) of Niewenhuis’s 1907 Quer Durch Borneo (see Comparable Example, below). Niewenhuis attributes the panel to the Bahau people of the Upper Mahakam River region.
Additional photos available upon request.

Provenance:

Condition:

Excellent overall. Some of the red-on-white or “white heart” beads show signs of the chemical decomposition process known as “glass disease,” which is common on pieces of this age having Venetian glass beads on them.

Dimensions:

Comparable Example:

A.W. Nieuwenhuis, Quer Durch Borneo: Ergebnisse seiner Reisen in den Jahren 1894, 1896-7, und 1898-1900, Part 2 (1907). Brill, Leiden. See Plate 69a.

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Description:

This rare panel features bold, colorful graphics in both the foreground and background. Athough it is tempting to read our own meanings into the various motifs, the Dayak probably viewed them as powerful, traditional forms whose talismanic potential had already been tested.
Beaded panels of this nature were attached to the backs of rattan baby carriers as protective shields capable of deflecting negative spirits that might hurt the child’s body or steal its soul. It often took years or decades to assemble enough beads in the desired colors and sizes. The presence of shades of yellow, green and black indicates that the shades were likely obtained in different batches over time and/or from multiple sources.
Probably made it the late 19th century, the panel closely resembles one published in black and white in Plate 69 (a) of Niewenhuis’s 1907 Quer Durch Borneo (see Comparable Example, below). Niewenhuis attributes the panel to the Bahau people of the Upper Mahakam River region.
Additional photos available upon request.

Provenance:

Condition:

Excellent overall. Some of the red-on-white or “white heart” beads show signs of the chemical decomposition process known as “glass disease,” which is common on pieces of this age having Venetian glass beads on them.

Dimensions:

Comparable Example:

A.W. Nieuwenhuis, Quer Durch Borneo: Ergebnisse seiner Reisen in den Jahren 1894, 1896-7, und 1898-1900, Part 2 (1907). Brill, Leiden. See Plate 69a.