THOMAS MURRAY
The “Dancing Figure” Pua Sungkit is the highest
ranked of all Iban textiles. Of the few examples
known, those with the “skull motif” are the rarest
and most powerful. Early reports inform that these
cloths were used to “receive” the heads after a
headhunting raid. The motif may originate from
a 17th Century “Dancing Ladies” Indian trade
cloth. The golden reflective highlights seen in the
“stomach” of the figures in the lowest passage and
the in the center of the border diamonds below are
woven from byssus “sea silk,” long filaments secreted
by a mussel, which is the rarest of all weaving
threads used in Indonesia. Its source in Borneo
remains unknown but it may represent a very
long distance trade network stretching
from the Mediterranean Sea.
“Dancing Figure” Pua Sungkit
with Skull Motif (detail)
Iban Dayak, Borneo
Cotton, byssus; discontinuous
supplementary weft wrapping
18th/early 19th Century
74 x 20 inches (188 x 51cm)
By appointment:
775 E. Blithedale #321
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Tel.: 415-332-3445
Mobile: 415-378-0716
thomas@tmurrayarts.com
www.tmurrayarts.com
/www.tmurrayarts.com
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