Dayak Head

Modang-Bahau Dayak, Borneo
Wood, shell
891-1020 AD 1059 BP (98.5% of area)
Ex private French collection
7 x 4½ x 2¼ in

A highly refined and very early portrait of an ancestor from East Borneo, the origin of the style has been attributed to the culturally related Modang and Bahau Dayak ethnic groups. However, in light of the consistent early dating of such sculptures, in this case going back a thousand years, and keeping in mind the migrations of the Dayak during historic times, attribution is impossible to know with certainty. It is likely to have survived in a cave setting.