Basketry sitting mat. [BS [OPS Move] 22/6/2017]

Collection type: Object
Description: Basketry sitting mat. [BS [OPS Move] 22/6/2017]
Long description: Basketry sitting mat with a geometric pattern of black and red concentric diamonds and a red textile border. Blue red and white textile chevrons have been applied at the pointed end, which is reinforced with ?bamboo splits and upper section. Bells hang from each of the points of the upper section. [BS [OPS Move] 22/6/2017]
Geographical reference: Malaysia
Asia > South-eastern Asia > Malaysia; Sarawak
Cultural groups: Iban
Person: Field collector Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke; PRM source Third Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke; PRM source Bertram Norman Sergison Brooke
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1923
Date collected: By 1923
Acquisition information: Donated: 1923
Materials and processes: Material Plant Fibre, Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Metal, Material Bamboo Plant, Process Basketry, Process Woven, Process Dyed
Dimensions: Height: max 445 mm, Depth: max 22 mm, Width: max 340 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1923.86.104
Research and responses: According to Hose & McDougall ('The Pagan Tribes of Borneo' Vol. I, London: Macmillan & Co., 1912, p.43-44), a small mat is sometimes worn "hanging behind from a cord passed round the waist, and serving as a seat when the wearer sits down". [CF 1/3/2001]