Specifications

• Height: 33,5 cm.
• Material: wood, shell
• Position:
• Gender:
• Indigenous name: ba’a
• Price realised: € 11.970,-

Provenance

Dutch private collection; Sotheby’s, Paris 8-11-2021, lot 26.

Publications

Grunne, Bernard de (2015), Dayak from Borneo, pp. 74-89.

Exhibitions

Additional information

The oldest collected examples have three superimposed aso-heads in the centre; this item belongs to a later generation of Kayanic baby carriers which all feature three horizontal heads with engraved and partly in relief rendered bodies intertwined sideways forming a n intricate pattern. The spiritual entity is enhanced by large shell discs for eyes and ornament. The noses here are rendered as hornbill beaks. The ornament pattern on top is repeated along the sides.

Photo credits

Sotheby’s, Paris