A Kenyah shield Borneo

A Kenyah shield

Borneo, Indonesia

wood, paint, hair and rattan, the front painted Udoq monster masks with large eyes and fangs with inset strands of hair, the reverse with a central rib and an integral handle and painted two ancestor figures and further masks, with a Charles Hose, Sarawak label and a Oldham disc tag,

115cm high.

Provenance

Charles Hose (1863 - 1929)

William Ockelford Oldham (1879 - 1949)

Private collection, UK

Charles Hose joined the Sarawak civil service and was sent to the Baram River district which he governed as its most senior official from 1888. He progressed quickly through the ranks. He was instrumental in eradicating headhunting and brokered a peace agreement between various enemy tribes in Marudi in 1899.

In his pastime Hose liked to venture into the rainforest and he became an avid collector of plants and animals. In this he was supported by Raja Charles Brooke, founder of the Sarawak Museum. Hose discovered numerous new species and chartered the first map of the area. His exploitations led him to become intrigued by the natives of the Baram River who he studied and from whom he collected anthropological objects, some of which can be found at The British Museum, including eight similar shields, and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge.