Dayak Carved Boar Skull

The boar kept its teeth. Everything else went to the carver.

This carved boar skull is attributed to the Dayak peoples of Indonesia or Malaysia, Southeast Asia, and dates to the 20th century. It is carved boar bone, from Borneo. Dayak art is well known for dense, curling vegetal scrollwork, a style found on everything from shields to house panels. Here those scrolls cover the skull from snout to crown, pierced right through the bone in places so that the cheek and jaw read like lace. The teeth and tusks are left intact, and the bone has a warm ivory tone. It stands on a black metal mount, 13 inches deep and 9 high.

Ferocious at one end, delicate at every other.