The exaggerated brow and elongated jawline on the massive head of this small-bodied figure suggest that it was originally meant to be seen at a height well above eye level.

This cast brass ornament from a warrior’s headdress depicts a stylized crouching figure with round, hollow eyes, circular nostrils, and an open, anguished mouth. Such headdress ornaments served both as protective charms and as emblems of rank.

This figure is Panlih, a protective spirit distinguished by a heart-shaped face and vice-like hands with enormous thumbs and multiple fingers. He crouches with arms and legs flexed, poised for attack and projecting aggressive vigilance.

Although they survive as fragments, these pieces can be appreciated for their sculptural form and intricately incised decoration.

This cast bronze kettle from Brunei is decorated with symbols that reflected Dayak ideas about wealth, prestige, and even supernatural power. The two large seated figures holding swords at the base of the handle represent warriors.

Possessing potent magical charm, the skulls of slain enemies were hung from elegantly formed hooks like this one. The hooks were suspended from the rafters of the longhouse, where they were part of an altar where prayers and sacrificial offerings were made.

The design and construction of this desk and bookcase are firmly rooted in English cabinetmaking practices. By the second quarter of the 18th century, craftsmen from London had introduced the important characteristics of the design: a slant-lid desk topped by a bookcase with paneled doors, an arched, broken pediment, ball-and-claw feet, and Greco-Roman architectural details such as Corinthian pilasters.

The following essay is from the 1989 publication American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, by Charles L. Venable. In this essay, Venable attributes this piece to cabinetmaker Henry Rust. Later scholarship reveals that it was made by Nathaniel Gould.