Drinking Cup

Tebok bulu. Bamboo carved. From the 1902 publication by William Henry Furness, "The Home-life of Borneo Head-huners: Its Festivals and Folk-lore": Hearing a song about a "glittering cup, a bamboo cup," but never having seen anything but "pressed-glass tumblers or cocoanut shells" in the long-houses, Furness inspired his hosts to a rummaging in the rafters, which produced several bamboo cups "coated with dust and soot. They were carved into a sort of lip like a pitcher on the upper edge, and on the sides were decorated with engraved scrolls, bands, and circles. Tama Bulan was delighted to see them, and said he remembered well when there was no other kind of cup...He insisted that one should be washed out immediately and put to use, inasmuch as arrack always tasted far better from the bamboo."