Cultural History In Focus | “The Tradition of Head-Hunting” by Albert van Zonneveld from ‘Traditional Weapons of Borneo: The Attire of Head-Hunters | Volume I: Shields & War Clothes’

 

Kayan Warrior’s Headdress
© The British Museum | United Kingdom

 
 

The Tradition of Head-Hunting

Traditional Weapons of Borneo: The Attire of Head-Hunters
Volume I: Shields & War Clothes

 

by Albert van Zonneveld

 
 
 

The fourth chapter of ‘Traditional Weapons of Borneo: The Attire of Head-Hunters | Volume I: Shields & War Clothes’ is generously provided here by Albert van Zonneveld and Sunfield Publishing.

 
 
 

Warrior’s Headdress Ornament, Frontal Figure | Tap Lavong Kayo
© Dallas Museum of Art | Texas, USA

Warrior’s Shield
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Incised Trophy Skull
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Dayak Warrior’s Headdress
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Ot Danum Warrior’s Headdress
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Warrior’s Shield
© Yale University Art Gallery | Connecticut, USA

Kayan Warrior’s Headdress
© The British Museum | United Kingdom

Warrior’s Shield
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Kutai Kertanegara Warrior’s Headdress
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Warrior’s Shield | Kelbit/Kelempit/Kliau/Talawang
© Dallas Museum of Art | Texas, USA

Warrior’s Shield
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Warrior’s Shield
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Warrior’s Shield
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

 

Portrait of a Group of Dayak warriors in Sarawak | 1900 - 1940
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Dayaks in War Apparel, Borneo | Circa 1885
© Woodbury & Page | Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Dayak Warrior in Costume | 1932
© Tillema Collection | Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Collection of Dayak Objects in Indonesia | 1870-1900
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

Portrait of a Kayan Warrior from the vicinity of the Baram River in Sarawak | 1900-1940
© Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen | The Netherlands

 

Albert van Zonneveld

“The Tradition of Head-Hunting” by Albert van Zonneveld from ‘Traditional Weapons of Borneo: The Attire of Head-Hunters | Volume I: Shields & War Clothes’
 

Ever since his early years, Albert van Zonneveld (Leiden, 1951) has been fascinated by the traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago. The collections housed at the National Museum of Ethnology (now: Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen) and the Army Museum (now: Nationaal Militair Museum) serving as a source of inspiration close to home, this hobby became more and more professional over time. Especially the various functions of the weapons, as a combat weapon, as a status symbol, as a work of art and as a mystical object united in a single object, cause this field of research to be so extraordinary in his view.

Van Zonneveld has carried out ample research, delivered lectures and published articles on the subject. He is the author of a standard work entitled Traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago (Leiden 2001) and of the important monographs Traditionele wapens van Enggano. Een verdwenen cultuur van de Indonesische archipel [Traditional weapons of Enggano. A vanished culture of the Indonesian archipelago] (Leiden 2012); Traditional weapons of Borneo. The attire of the head-hunters, Volume I, shields and war clothes. (Leiden 2018) and Traditionele wapens van Borneo. De uitrusting van de koppensnellers. Deel II, speren en blaasroeren [Traditional weapons of Borneo. The attire of the head-hunters, Volume II, spears and blowpipes.] (Leiden 2015).

 
Traditional Weapons of Borneo. The Attire of the Head Hunters. Volume 1: Shields and War Clothes Albert van Zonneveld
Traditionele wapens van Borneo De uitrusting van de koppensnellers Deel II, Speren en blaasroeren Albert G. van Zonneveld
Traditionele wapens van Enggano Een verdwenen cultuur van de Indonesische Archipel Albert G. van Zonneveld
Traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago Albert G. van Zonneveld

Colophon

Author | Albert van Zonneveld
Title | “Traditional Weapons of Borneo: The Attire of Head-Hunters | Volume I: Shields & War Clothes”
Publisher | Sunfield Publishing
Year of Publication | 2018