ANAK
KENYALANG
S A R A W A K
CARVING OF TWO RIDERS
ASTRIDE A MYTHICAL BEAST
-
Circa 1890-1905
-
Ketibas River Region, Sarawak
-
Iban peoples
-
Wood, antler, and applied pigments
-
45 cm (17.7 in) x 48 cm (18.8 in)
-
Collected by Steven G. Alpert circa 1975
A commanding yet playful Iban carving of importance, depicting a mythical animal mounted by two riders. This unusual piece was acquired from an elderly gentleman named Mandan on the Katibas River in 1975. He was of quite an advanced age at the time and was revered as the last mask carver in the area.
Mandan told me that he was a teenager during the Great War and that this work had been carved by his father before he was born. He called the carving an "anak kenyalang." It's the only piece of this variety I ever collected. I wrote to Dr. Michael Heppell regarding its function and title, and he responded: "The anak kenyalang is superb. I have seen this kind of thing, but this one is outstanding. I think you might find that Mandan, like all Iban, was a little bit frightened to tell you what the real name of the image was for fear that the spirit might attack him for being presumptuous. I'm sure it is a dragon, as I am sure you would have thought it was."
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
