Staff with Parent Carrying Child on Shoulders

20th century

Not on view

This short wooden staff from southern Borneo depicts a figure supporting a child on the shoulders. Highly stylized and attenuated in form, the central figure has wide shoulders, a somewhat tapered torso, flaring angular hips and thin legs with the feet shown as downward angled tab-like projections. Both figures have smooth, rounded heads with shallow concave surfaces to indicate cheeks and eyes. The slender figure of a lizard, its scales and bodily markings indicated with shallow incised lines, appears on the lower section of the shaft directly beneath the central figure’s feet. The body of a snake, carved in low relief, also coils several times around the length of the shaft, its head appearing as a simple curved form below the figure’s right foot.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Title: Staff with Parent Carrying Child on Shoulders
Date: 20th century
Geography: Indonesia, Borneo
Culture: Dayak people
Medium: Wood
Dimensions: H. 34 1/2 in. (87.6 cm)
Classification: Wood-Implements
Credit Line: Gift of Fred and Rita Richman, 2013
Object Number: 2013.1137.10
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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