Necklace worn by Bidayuh people in West Borneo, Indonesia. Worn mainly by men.
Beads are valued by all the Borneo’s tribes. Dayak families of the upper class own a certain number of old beads which formed an important part of a family’s prestige and wealth, and were one of the principal forms of currency.
Materials: glass beads and brass bells. The brass bells add spiritual strength to the translucent blue and green glass beads.
Age: The necklace is made with beads of different ages, some of them could be a couple of hundred years old or more, other glass beads are from the 19th and 20th century. The majority of the heirloom glass beads in Kalimantan are most probably from the 17th-19th c, when trade with Europe was at his height.
Dimensions:
Total length: 78 cm
Diameter of biggest bead: 1,8 cm
Literature:
“Heirloom beads among the Dayak of Borneo”, Campbell, Barbie, BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 34 (2022)
“Beads of Borneo”, Munan, Heidi, Editions Didier Millet, 2005, p. 65
“Colliers ethniques d’Afrique d’Asie, d’Océanie et d’Amérique”, Leurquin, Anne, Skira, 2003, p. 343
INDO80
