The ritual clothes of the Dayak, known as ‘Pua’, play an important role in the life of the people of Borneo. ‘Magic powers’ are attributed to the ‘Pua’, which are used in large-scale rituals. During initiation and wedding ceremonies, the main protagonist is wrapped in ‘Pua’. ‘Holy shrines’ in the longhouses of the Dayak are covered in ‘Pua’ cloths. During festivals of rice-planting and harvest festivals, the offerings for the gods are wrapped in ‘Pua’, so that they might be propitiated. For similar reasons, the dead are also wrapped in ‘Pua’ cloths at their burial, so that they might be graciously received in the afterlife, in the realm of the ancestors. In earlier times, ‘Pua’ were also important for the head-hunting of the Dayak: before, the weapons were ritually cleaned with ‘Pua’ textiles, and afterwards the captured head was wrapped in a ‘Pua’, to be reconciled again with this ‘magical gesture’. The present ritual cloth, ‘Pua’, shows twelve standing Dayak warriors, on the halves of the cloth there are six above and six below. The warriors wear helmets with horn-like crests at the sides and each with three tail-feathers of the hornbill, as well as breast armour in transverse rows of spikes. Between the warriors, at head height, there are fields with vertical lines of letters, which probably fulfill only abstract ornamental and decorative aims. Between every second, large warrior and his neighbour stands a small figure at hip height. In addition, this ‘Pua’ displays some lozenges between the figures, as well as similar, decorative, terminating borders above and below. Both side borders are completed with straight white and light blue lines on brown ground. The impressive, strikingly eye-catching piece consists of cotton fabric and is dyed in Ikat technique. That means that the warp threads are bound off and dyed ‘before’ weaving. Only afterwards are they actually woven. Here, in addition, reddish-brown, dark brown and some light blue appear against the light, sand-coloured background of the fabric. Amongst the Dayak, dyeing and weaving is the work of women. This bestows to the Dayak women a high social standing. Ultimately, it is only they who create such important ritual objects as the ‘Pua’. The ceremonial textile presented here is a typical piece of its kind, and completely undamaged. Dimensions: 210 cm x 110 cm. First half to mid-20th century. (ME)

Provenance: According to the information of the consignor, it was purchased in 1965 in a ‘longhouse’ of the Iban-Dayak, at the Rejang river in northern Borneo, in the province of Sarawak, which belongs to Malaysia. Since then, in the possession of an Austrian family.

Lit.: 'Traditional Indonesian Textiles' by John Gillow, fig. 17, 84, 85; 'Iban Art' by M. Heppell, L. A. Melaka, E. A. Usen, fig. 23, 27, 47, 60, 67 et al.

additional image:
A SHRINE in a long house of the Dayak on Borneo. Such temporary shrines are wrapped with the ceremonial cloths “Pua” (as Cat. No. 207). In front of the "Pua" stand ritual offerings in bowls.
Photo from: “Iban Art” by M. Heppell, L. A. Melaka, E. A. Usen