The Dayak men and women of Bukang, Semandang River wore this wooden hair ornament in pairs. It was also used in healing and as a tool used in daily activities.During 19th-20th centuries, it was typical for ethnographic collectors to collect a wide range of artefacts. They believed that a collected specimen should add new knowledge to the field so that scholars could have a more ‘complete’ picture of the culture they were studying. Abbott collected a wide range of objects to represent every aspect of material culture in the places he visited. He wanted his collection to show the Dayak people in the development of human society. Today, due to the influence of art markets and demands from international buyers, collecting ethnographic object is seen less as filling in a gap in knowledge and more as an activity of collecting art.
