A CARVED WOOD KLAU SHIELD, DAYAK PEOPLE, BORNEO

拍品描述

A CARVED WOOD KLAU SHIELD, DAYAK PEOPLE, BORNEO This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005: “No. 480, ST 2000, Borneo Batak Shield in relief 19th c.” Gallery price: EUR 3,500 or approx. EUR 5,800 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. Indonesia, late 19th – early 20th century. Fashioned from lightweight jelutong wood, of elongated hexagonal form with a central vertical crease. The front boldly decorated with highly stylized mask-like faces bearing fanged teeth, framed by scrolling vegetal ornament and bands of interlocking ornamental motifs. The reverse fitted with a central handle serving as a grip. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Height 118.5 cm Among the shields of Island Southeast Asia, those of Borneo are among the most immediately recognizable to collectors for their refined craftsmanship and richly varied decorative schemes. Originally associated with Kenyah and other Dayak groups, this shield form was subsequently adopted by the Iban and neighboring communities, owing to its efficient ergonomics and proven effectiveness in close combat. It was conceived as an elongated fighting shield carved from lightweight yet resilient jelutong wood. Rather than intended to withstand the direct impact of a spear point, it was designed to deflect blows through controlled rotation of the hand. Both extremities are tapered to acute points, allowing the shield to be braced against the ground, driven forward in offensive maneuvers, or employed in deceptive feints. From the outset of its discovery by Europeans in the sixteenth century, the peoples of the island of Borneo, some of whom were reputed to be fierce warriors and avid head-hunters, together with their vast equatorial forests, myriad rivers, and unknown species of flora and fauna, ignited in the Western imagination an immense interest in this exotic landscape. Facts and fictions were eagerly recorded in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century memoirs and travelogues, as well as being carefully documented by early colonial officials, ethnographers, and expeditions of zoologists and naturalists. These hardy individuals were the first alien collectors of Dayak shields. The makers of these shields are historically referred to in older sources as Dyak or Diak, and more commonly today as Dayak. The term is widely thought to derive from the Austronesian root ‘daya’, meaning ‘inland’ or ‘interior’, and was already in use prior to European contact. It gained broader currency during the nineteenth century as a colonial classification term. Today, Dayak serves as a general designation for more than 200 ethnolinguistic groups, most of whom inhabit the interior regions of Borneo and share cultural traits rooted in a common Austronesian heritage. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 12 December 2018, lot 38 Price: EUR 32,500 or approx. EUR 41,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related form, material, and similar size (120 cm). Note the more refined and polychrome decoration on the comparable.

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