Borneo's Dayak handicraft, the beauty of ancient tribal arts and handmade crafts
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Scrolls and spirals form geometric patterns on clay pots and coffins, and scrolls on Iban sword blades are called "caterpillars". The spiral, from which the keys and rhombs motif may have derived, is often a double spiral among the Kayan and Kenyah.

Bornean art: Plant and Geometric Motifs


The bamboo shoot is a widespread symbol of the vital force, mana, thus of agriculture and human fertility, and it also denotes durability. Shaped as a triangle, tumpal, it is commonly woven in Malay and Iban textiles and tatooed by the Kayan as the "durian thorn". Elongated and associated with spirals, the bamboo shoot is etched out on Kayan and Kenyah bamboo containers, and male grave markers commonly take its shape.

The lotus flower is found mainly on Land Dayak shields and Barito Group's mausoleums. As the source of the life it is equated with the jar. Scrolls and spirals form geometric patterns on clay pots and coffins, and scrolls on Iban sword blades are called "caterpillars". The spiral, from which the keys and rhombs motif may have derived, is often a double spiral among the Kayan and Kenyah. The common Iban tatoo motif called "eggplant flower", a spiral enclosed in a circle or rosette, likely derives from the dragon's eye, and other double-spiral motifs derive from dragon's interlocked tails or jaws.

Painted or carved Kenyah tendrils or "hooks" tend to extend into spirals. While shorter Kayan tendrils on sword hilts often figure as the dragon's horns or jaws, the even shorter Iban tendrils are called "leeches". The hook, associated with vitality and fertility, is used in rituals to capture mana.

Floral motifs are widespread among Hindu-influenced groups, like the Land Dayak and Melanau, the Tunjung and Benua, and the Malays and some neighboring Iban. Dragon, dragon face, and human figure motifs may be reinterpreted into floral motifs. Flowers or foliate arabesques decorate mausoleums and grave-markers, bamboo carvings, and sword hilts. The eight-pointed star, called either "mangosteen flower" or "tiger footprint", is common in plait work.

Bornean arts: The dragon and the underworld, The Tomb-Womb-Jar, The hornbill and the upperworld, The tree of life, The squatting slave and other anthropomorphs, The old tiger, The spirit ship, Plant and geometric motifs.

Related products: Bamboo-Bali furniture.