Old Dayak Borneo Weaving Sticks for Embroidery Sungkit

This Old Dayak Borneo Weaving Sticks for Embroidery (Sungkit), traditionally used by the Dayak people of Borneo in their intricate textile-making processes.

Description:

These antique weaving tools are known as Sungkit sticks, which play a vital role in the creation of “kain sungkit”, a traditional handwoven textile. Each stick is typically handcrafted from hardwood and meticulously carved at the top with miniature human or ancestral figures, reflecting Dayak spiritual beliefs and cultural symbolism.

• Material: Dark hardwood, likely ironwood .

• Design Features:

  • Each stick is crowned with carved human figures, believed to represent ancestors or protective spirits.

  • The carvings vary slightly in detail, indicating individual craftsmanship and possibly different symbolic meanings.

  • One stick features wrapped with silver tread possibly used for securing threads or indicating a specific weaving function.

• Function: These sticks are inserted into a warp of threads during the weaving of supplementary weft patterns, allowing artisans to raise specific warp threads and insert decorative designs in the cloth.

The Dayak weaving tradition, especially among the Iban and other groups, is deeply spiritual. Each motif and tool often holds symbolic meaning, associated with protection, fertility, and identity. Tools like these are not only functional but sacred, passed down through generations.

These particular sticks, when displayed in a traditional vessel as shown, may also serve as a cultural artifact or offering, honoring the ancestral heritage and the craftsmanship of Dayak weavers.

H – 43 x 13 x 13 cm / 460 g

Brass Pot H – 10 x 13 x 13 cm

Weaving Sticks 9 pc with a measurement of 27 – 33 cm

Price include 9 pc weaving sticks, brass pot and shipping by air mail world wide.