A CARVED BELIAN WOOD GRAVE STELE ''KLIRIENG''

Description:

Borneo Northwest, Malaysia, Sabah or Sarawak, Dayak or Dusun or Kadazan
H. 188,5 cm (o.S.)
This rare and well-preserved grave stele made of heavy and hard ironwood is carved on one side. It consists of one piece. The carving of the symmetrical plant motifs in the centre of the main surface is deeply and vividly carved into the wood. Given the enormous hardness of the wood, the work is superbly executed. The top of the stele is decorated with leafy tendrils; the base also features stylised ornamental plant motifs in a symmetrical arrangement. The overall motif is probably the tree of life pohon budi. The motif of the tree of life plays an important role in cosmology in Borneo, as the tree of life extends through all three planes of the world and connects the spheres of the dead, the living and the gods. The vegetal resolution of the motifs is related to Muslim standards.The stele originates from the Malay-Kutai region and comes from a Malay subgroup living in the Muslim Sultanate of Kutai on the Mahakam River in Borneo. The cultural area is known as the Dusun region, but is also populated by (non-Muslim) Dayak. Dusun is an umbrella term for various indigenous groups within the Malay state of Sabah on Borneo. The members of these groups usually do not refer to themselves as Dusun, which means ‘forest farmers’, but prefer the respective group names, such as Kadazan, Rungus, Ranau and Tambunan. Because of the similarities in culture and language with the Kadazan, the common ethnicity of the Kadazan-Dusun was formed, which represents the largest ethnic group of the peoples of Sabah with around 570,000 members. The stele is very large compared to other examples, which, combined with the high quality, indicates that the deceased was of high rank. These stelae were inserted and fastened at the ends of the wooden coffin, so that the lower, undecorated third was not visible.
From an old German private collection, assembled since the 1950s - Minor traces of age and slightly chipped