Borneo Dayak Rattan Poison Dart-Quiver Container

This fine cylindrical container of woven rattan over a single bamboo segment substrate is from the Dayak people of Borneo. It has the most exceptional colour and patina.

It is closed completely at one end, and at the other has a small round opening. It is fitted with a shoulder strap made from a strip of hide. Most probably it was used to hold darts or quivers. The darts were blow darts, used by the Dayak in spears the shafts of which were hollow and so could be used to project a blow dart.

The weaving of the rattan strips on the container is in a pattern that the Iban, a Dayak sub-group, referred to as anyam apit – literally ‘webbing’ in Malay.

The weaving is over a length of bamboo stem or sheaf and the ‘ends’ of the container (albeit with sheaf overlap) are the natural nodal rings of the bamboo stalk, which provide natural fixed stoppers or ends at each end.

The container has obvious age and a lustrous, deep patina. There is minor wear from use and age but overall, is a splendid, decorative item.

 

Above: a group of Dayak tribesmen from the upper Barito region, circa 1915. Three of the men visibly wear containers related to the example here.