Head Compressor

P631B

From: Borneo | Sarawak | Baram River

Curatorial Section: Oceanian

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Object Number P631B
Current Location Collections Storage
Culture Melanau
Provenience Borneo | Sarawak | Baram River
Section Oceanian
Materials Wood | Cloth | Metal
Description

Tadal. For girl baby. "The padded board which is bound on the child's head is kept in place only while the child is asleep or lying quietly in its mother's lap. The pressure exerted by twisting the cord running over the head-board is never very severe, and the flattening of the forehead is barely perceptible in an adult." (Furness, The Home-Life of Borneo Head-Hunters, following p. 158). Horizontal wooden bar, larger in the center with a pad covered in light colored cloth. Light colored cloth stripes are attached at either end and on top of the pad. A coin is attached to the strings on either ends of the wood.

Height 5 cm
Length 39 cm
Width 14 cm
Credit Line Gift of Alfred C. Harrison Jr. and Dr. H. M. Hiller, 1899

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