“Tun Tun Babi” Pig Trap Charm

Iban Dayak People, Sarawak, Malaysia, Borneo
19th Century
19 in / 48 cm
Wood
Ex Alain Schoffel, Ex private collection Los Angeles

Here is a striking tun tun babi, (nicknamed pig stick), used to set the height of the trip wire of a pig trap. The figure at the top was known to sing out to attract a wild boar to the trap. Such traps were declared illegal by Rajah Brooke at the end of the 19th Century, although it is thought their use continued into the very beginning of the 20th Century. Note some areas of significant weathering.