Trophee skull · Indonesia - Borneo, Dayak · ID: 3032379
sold
EUR 2,500
Provenance
Elisabeth Grünwald, Grenoble, France (1972)Size
H: 15 cm
H: 5.9 inch
Description
human skull without lower jaw, polished, incised ornamental and floral decorations, hole in the head, remains of rattan plait in the area of the nose, min. dam., minor missing parts (teeth);
in former times some of the Dayak people were dreaded headhunters. For religious reasons they used to keep the enemy skulls and display them in their naves. By headhunting the Dayak warrior proved his virility and was able to take possession of the killed enemies soul. A wide-spread motif for headhunting was the animist belief, that the slained had to follow his murder in the herafter as slave.
Comparing literature
Headhunters and Woodcarvers, from the Francois Coppens Collection, Arnhem 2000, p. 67, ill. 66