Tattoo Pattern
P246
From: Borneo | Dutch West Borneo | Mendalam River
Curatorial Section: Oceanian
| Object Number | P246 |
| Current Location | Collections Storage |
| Culture | Kayan |
| Provenience | Borneo | Dutch West Borneo | Mendalam River |
| Date Made | 19th century CE |
| Section | Oceanian |
| Materials | Wood |
| Description | Flat piece of wood carved to leave a pattern in high relief. The block is inked and pressed onto the skin as a guide for the tattooing. Repeat pattern, part of tattoo design covering a woman's upper thigh. Motif of a human head, executed with four border lines, identified by Nieuwenhuis as a thigh tattoo for a panjin, or " free woman class." |
| Length | 6.5 cm |
| Width | 9.5 cm |
| Credit Line | Gift of Alfred C. Harrison Jr. and Dr. H. M. Hiller, 1899 |
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