Object: nyu, lunggai, tempesing Culture and time: West-Borneo, Sarawak or Kalimantan, Kenyah (possibly Iban), late 19th century / early 20th century Dimensions: Length 35 cm The handle of this extraordinary knife (tempesing or lunggai, literally "feather") can be considered a textbook example of Kenyah carving at the highest level. A carefully selected piece of forked Sambar stag antlers was used, which in this case has practically no porous core. The whole structure is grouped around the central pierced double spiral, which embodies the soul's or the afterlife's journey and the ability to rededicate life energy by the warrior and headhunter. Above the [...]

Object: Soul ship Culture and time: Borneo The soul ship (telun) is an old concept of the Dayak on Borneo, which originally probably goes back to the Egyptian sun barque of Ra. It was believed that the souls rise from the under-world in the east and "go down" in the west and enter the under-world, similar to the sun. The afterlife is therefore always in the west. It is assumed that the dead person travels on a river that starts wide at first and leads through a narrow gorge with a whirlpool of fire at the end, the entrance [...]