Bornean Baby Carriers

Baby carriers used to transport newborns are very important family goods and heirlooms because of their multiple functions and the precious materials used for their fabrication.
A baby carrier is made to transport a child on the back of the mother in every moment of life during the newborn's first two years. The child sits on a wooden basement and lean against the back of the baby carrier which is covered with a textile. The shoulder strap being tight, the child is secured in between the baby carrier and the mother’s back.
Being used mostly in stratified societies divided into aristocracy, middle class and slaves, the baby carrier also act as a rank indicator. Anthropomorphic motifs of divinity and precious materials like rare blue and yellow beads, bronze bells and animal teeth are typical of the upper class and introduce the newborn into the society while transported on the mother’s back. The same motifs and materials which decorate the back of the baby carriers also have a protective function to guarantee the safety of the child and therefore of the family’s descent. The important protective function is stressed by the use of the same baby carrier for more generations of child, until the baby carrier get too much old to be used. At that time, as in the case of the following three work of arts, it becomes part of the family heirloom and is kept with the highest consideration.