18th Oct, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
671
AN IBAN HARDWOOD PANEL, DEPICTING A GUNBOAT HIJACKED BY SEA DAYAKS, 19TH CENTURY
Sold for €1,300
including Buyer's Premium
Expert’s note: The depiction of a foreign gunboat manned by indigenous people might represent a historical encounter. Particularly in the first half of the 19th century, there was much piracy directed at European ships in the seas around Borneo, by a group called the Sea Dayaks (now called the Iban).
Indonesia, Borneo. Carved in relief from a thick section of wood, to depicting a group of men and children either nude or wearing only loincloths standing atop a small sailboat fitted with two cannon ports on the ships starboard and two mounted cannons on the bow and on the deck, with two men each hoisting up a gigantic fish, while an alligator swims below.
Provenance: From a German private collection.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and natural age cracks, one with an associated old repair.
Weight: 4 kg
Dimensions: Size 57 x 38.7 cm
The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are an Austronesian ethnic group indigenous to northwestern Borneo. The Iban population is concentrated in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia, Brunei, and the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. They traditionally live in longhouses called rumah panjai or betang (trunk). The colonial accounts and reports of Dayak activity in Borneo detail carefully cultivated economic and political relationships with other communities as well as an ample body of research and study concerning the history of Dayak migrations. In particular, the Iban or the Sea Dayak exploits in the South China Seas are documented, owing to their ferocity and aggressive culture of war against sea-dwelling groups and emerging Western trade interests in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Iban are famous for being fearsome warriors in the past in defense of homeland or for migration to virgin territories.
The Sea Dayaks, as their name implies, are a maritime set of tribes, and fight chiefly in canoes and boats. In the 19th century, many of the Sea Dayaks were also pirates, which was secretly encouraged by the native rulers, who obtained a share of the spoil, and also by the Malays who knew well how to handle a boat. Sir James Brooke, who ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868, first encountered the Iban in 1843, during the attack by Brooke's forces on the Batang Saribas region. The finale of this battle was the conference at Nagna Sebuloh to sign a peace treaty to end piracy and headhunting but the natives refused to sign it, rendering the treaty moot. Fighting between Brooke’s force and various Iban Dayaks would continue over decades, but ultimately Brooke was able to suppress piracy in the region.
Expert’s note: The depiction of a foreign gunboat manned by indigenous people might represent a historical encounter. Particularly in the first half of the 19th century, there was much piracy directed at European ships in the seas around Borneo, by a group called the Sea Dayaks (now called the Iban).
Indonesia, Borneo. Carved in relief from a thick section of wood, to depicting a group of men and children either nude or wearing only loincloths standing atop a small sailboat fitted with two cannon ports on the ships starboard and two mounted cannons on the bow and on the deck, with two men each hoisting up a gigantic fish, while an alligator swims below.
Provenance: From a German private collection.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and natural age cracks, one with an associated old repair.
Weight: 4 kg
Dimensions: Size 57 x 38.7 cm
The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are an Austronesian ethnic group indigenous to northwestern Borneo. The Iban population is concentrated in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia, Brunei, and the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. They traditionally live in longhouses called rumah panjai or betang (trunk). The colonial accounts and reports of Dayak activity in Borneo detail carefully cultivated economic and political relationships with other communities as well as an ample body of research and study concerning the history of Dayak migrations. In particular, the Iban or the Sea Dayak exploits in the South China Seas are documented, owing to their ferocity and aggressive culture of war against sea-dwelling groups and emerging Western trade interests in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Iban are famous for being fearsome warriors in the past in defense of homeland or for migration to virgin territories.
The Sea Dayaks, as their name implies, are a maritime set of tribes, and fight chiefly in canoes and boats. In the 19th century, many of the Sea Dayaks were also pirates, which was secretly encouraged by the native rulers, who obtained a share of the spoil, and also by the Malays who knew well how to handle a boat. Sir James Brooke, who ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868, first encountered the Iban in 1843, during the attack by Brooke's forces on the Batang Saribas region. The finale of this battle was the conference at Nagna Sebuloh to sign a peace treaty to end piracy and headhunting but the natives refused to sign it, rendering the treaty moot. Fighting between Brooke’s force and various Iban Dayaks would continue over decades, but ultimately Brooke was able to suppress piracy in the region.
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