A BAMBOO-INLAID WOOD ‘UDOK’ DAYAK BABY CARRIER, BAHAU, BORNEO, LATE 19TH TO EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Finely carved in the round with three frontal facing masks, each with large circular eyes, the bamboo inlays each finely incised with a spiral, pierced noses, and an open mouth revealing teeth. With a narrow band of vines above inlaid with three further bamboo discs and separated by four flanges, and a wider inlaid band with abstract patterns below.

Provenance: Jean Porchez, La Société Objets de l'Outre Mer, acquired in Kuqing in the 1960s. The Panagopoulos collection, Illinois, acquired from the above. La Société Objets de l'Outre Mer is a Parisian business run by Jean Porchez selling rare and fascinating objects collected around the world, many of which are now in important private and public collections such as J. P. Barbier or the Musée du quai Branly.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, traces of use, few natural age cracks, nicks and scratches. One of twelve bamboo discs is lost. Fine, naturally grown patina overall.

Weight: 1.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 31.2 cm

The present lot is from the central highlands of Borneo, where it was believed that in the early stages of a child’s life the soul was not firmly attached to the body, thus able to wander through the forest and encounter danger. Hence the Dayak performed elaborate rituals to help repel bad spirits which included elaborate carriers to protect their children. Mothers on the island of Borneo carry their infants on their backs using this type of carrier. The decorations are intended to protect infants from harm. This carrier bears the face of an udok, an underworld creature with the power to keep evil spirits at bay.

In their seminal study, Whittier and Whittier (Baby Carriers. A Link Between Social and Spiritual Values Among the Kenyah Dayak of Borneo, 1988) divide the baby carriers of the Kenyah-Kayan Dayak complex into three categories: those with wickerwork backs decorated with beaded mesh, those supported by carved wooden or bone uprights, and finally those made of hardwood, featuring - as here - carved faces in high relief. This last type, reserved for high-ranking families, is both the rarest and the most remarkable. The presence of bamboo disc inlays places it among the earliest of these examples as later carriers were decorated with conus shell discs. The faces, carved in deep relief with pierced nostrils and decorated with conus bamboo discs, position this example among some of the best that have come to market in recent years.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Dayak baby carrier, dated late 19th to early 20th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1987.453.2. Compare a closely related Dayak baby carrier, dated mid-20th century, in the Fowler Museum at UCLA, accession number X85.1076.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 14 December 2016, lot 39
Price: EUR 68,750 or approx. EUR 81,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Baby carrier, Dayak, Borneo
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decorations, disc inlays, and size (32 cm).