Protective Power - Kenyah Dayak Baby Carrier

29th July 2026

This fearsomely carved ‘ba’ or baby carrier made by the Kenyah Dayak people of Borneo, was created as a protective device against spiritual danger for the child carried within it. Appearing in the upcoming Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas | Antiquities sale on 20th August 2026, this culturally significant example, consigned from a private collection, was gifted direct to the Malaysian owner over 50 years ago by Temenggong Oyong Lawai Jau (1894–1974), Paramount chief of the Kayan-Kenyah people.

With its sculpturally carved decoration from dense Bornean Ironwood (Belian), the baby carrier (Lot 104) features three protective udok or ancestral faces carved in the round, inlaid with bamboo discs. This formidable object would undoubtedly have been owned by a family of high social status, indicated by both a high quality of workmanship and the fact that noble families have a strict monopoly on the creation and use of certain decorative motifs to be displayed on a baby carrier. (Victor T King. Borneo Studies in History, Society and Culture).

The Kenyah traditionally believed that the soul of a young child was not very well attached to the body, so the carrier’s function was to keep the baby protected and firmly attached to its mother. The expressive faces, carved in deep relief, featuring flared nostrils, fangs and bared teeth beneath the incised bamboo disc eyes, place this amongst the earliest and finest of other known examples. Additional incised geometric decoration in the seat of the carrier is unusual and said to serve as a protective spiritual motif, shielding the noble child from malevolent forces believed to rise from below.

A seminal study by Whittier and Whittier titled ‘Baby Carriers A Link Between Social and Spiritual Values Among the Kenyah Kayak of Borneo, 1988’ concludes, ‘The ... baby carrier [is] a work of art, a device for protecting a child’s health, a display and confirmation of social rank, and a mechanism for creating and strengthening social relations’.

Few closely related examples exist; however, comparable pieces are held within the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1987.453.2), New York, Yale University Art Gallery (ILE2012.30.554) the Fowler Museum (X85.1076), Los Angeles, and The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, (UEA 767) Norfolk and The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (inv. No. A.1981.127).

Appearing in the Arts of Africa, Oceania and The Americas, Antiquities online only sale (lot 104), closing on 20th August, Will Hobbs, African and Oceanic Art and Antiquities specialist said, "This extremely rare and exquisitely carved Dayak baby carrier is one of the best to come on the market in recent times."

Provenance
Temenggong Oyong Lawai Jau (1894–1974) Paramount Chief of the Kayan-Kenyah people, remembered throughout Borneo as the "Father of Baram".
Private Collection, Malaysia, gifted from the above 1973, thence by descent.
Pre-sale estimate £5,000–£8,000