Indonesian gold exhibition now on in Paris

By Kunang Helmi-Picard

PARIS (JP): A total of 71 artifacts belonging to the National Museum in Jakarta, mainly made of gold, are on display in Paris until the end of July.

As the existence of Indonesian jewelry and other objects in precious metals has been almost completely ignored by the European public up to the present day, Indonesia's 50th anniversary is a fitting occasion to introduce the French to a representative selection.

The star attraction of the exhibition Gold of the Indonesian Archipelago is undoubtedly the spectacular golden Ramayana dish discovered at Plosokuning, Wonoboyo. Placed at the front of the show, visitors cannot fail to gasp in admiration at the artistry of Javanese goldsmiths around the beginning of the 10th century. The exile of Rama and the kidnapping of Sita are depicted realistically through a special hammering technique on the oval body of the dish. Only after the delicate work of the goldsmiths was completed was the dish coaxed into its final elongated four- lobed form.

Edi Sedyawati, Director General of Culture at the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, and Suwati Kartiwa, director of the National Museum, oversaw the transportation of the valuable exhibits. Both attended the opening of the show at the Guimet Museum on May 4. Also present were French Minister of Culture Jacques Toubon and Indonesian Ambassador to France S. Wiryono. The exhibition is one of a series of events in France commemorating 50 years of Indonesian independence.

The show is divided into three sections: sculpture, archeology and ethnography. Visitors to the opening of the show were treated to excellent introductory explanations by Madame Girard-Geslan who was until recently posted in Jakarta with her husband, the former French ambassador to Indonesia. Girard-Geslan is also an author of the excellently-written and well-illustrated French catalog accompanying the exhibition, together with Edi Sedyawati, Thierry Zephin, Martowikrido Wahyono and Suhardini.

The sculptures are in gold, or in bronze gilded with gold, and represent gods and goddesses of ancient Java, such as Shiva and his spouse Parvati standing united on a pedestal of a gold lotus base on a silver box. These 20-centimeter-high gold statues, which date from the 10th Century, were discovered in a grotto of Mount Seplawan in Central Java, together with other objects which were placed in a bronze vessel under an altar. A tiny golden lingga and yoni statue is richly ornamented with plant motifs. Symbolizing male and female, it dates from the 13th Century and was discovered in Pucang, near Malang, in East Java.

A 34-cm high Vishnu standing on a lotus flower is depicted on an oval golden plaque discovered in Gemuruh, said to date from the 9th Century. Vishnu is richly ornamented, wearing a necklace with pearls, similar to the bracelets on the four arms, together with armbands and encircling rings around his ankles. His dhoti is visibly held up by a metal chain belt complete with an ornate buckle. Attentive observers can also perceive a miniature garuda in anthropomorphic form standing at Vishnu's right side, holding a serpent in his hands. Another statue, discovered in Gemuruh near Wonosobo dating from the 9th Century, is represented on a 1mm thick gold plaque which is 20.5 cm in height: Shiva Mahadevi standing in high relief is displayed with four arms holding a rosary, a fly swatter, a trident and a vase.

Other statues include several buddhas in gold or gilded bronze, one 24cm-high buddha in gold dating from the 8th Century discovered in Manyargading in Jepara, Central Java. Another 10cm- high statue of Aksobhya in gold is younger, dating from between the 10th and 11th Centuries and found on the slopes of Mount Wilis at Combre, Kediri, Central Java. The halo, or oval sirascakra behind the head, is strikingly decorated with gold flames and his right shoulder is left bare by the simple costume reaching to the ankles. Yet another buddha found at Combre also displays Indian features which, together with the fact that the form of the pedestal and the petals adorning it are unusual for Indonesian sculpture, suggests that they may have been sent to Java from India.

Perhaps the most spectacular statue of the show is the bronze Avalokitesvara, plated in silver and gold. It was discovered in 1855 by a peasant digging a ditch in Tekaran, Wonogiri, Central Java, and dates from the period between the 8th and 9th Centuries. The nearly one-meter-high bronze figure is depicted standing, but the legs below the knee have, unfortunately, been lost. Although the four arms are also broken below the elbows, two lower arms complete with hands were discovered by Jan Fontein in 1989. Fontein found them in the collection of the Radyapustaka Museum in Surakarta while he preparing the exhibition Sculpture of Indonesia for the 1990-1991 Festival of Indonesia in the United States. Technically, the statue was created with the help of a special method entailing a framework of iron, included in the core of the clay form, before the metal was cast. Then the silver plate was applied, with the finishing touches in gold completing the fine ornamentation of the statue.

Ritual objects

The archeological section includes both ritual objects and jewelry discovered over the past ten years. The Ramayana dish already mentioned is part of the treasures of Wonoboyo discovered in October 1990 in Plosokuning, Central Java, and displayed outside Indonesia for the first time. These antique objects in silver and gold were found in an enormous round bronze container and five ceramic Tang jars, all covered by a layer of lava three meters thick, hinting at an important volcanic eruption in the area situated at the foot of Mount Merapi. This may well have been the cause of the seat of royal power being transferred from Central to East Java in the period between the 9th and 10th Centuries. Certain inscriptions point to a king who renounced his kingdom to become a hermit. This king could have been Sindok, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Mataram.

The treasures of Wonoboyo include a delicate necklace of 38 gold conical shells; an ornate cover, possibly of a jar, displaying mammal motifs on a lotus petal background; an impressive gold elongated brooch set with rock crystal and other stones; a ceremonial bowl in gold; two armbands, one resembling a gunungan with the face of a ferocious kala and another covered by plant motifs, both of which are obviously part of a pair and a graceful ceremonial ladle with the inscription brat su 9 ma 12 ku 2 ta di ka (the weight of this is 9 suwarna, 12 masa and 2 kupang).

The organizers decided to round off the display with about twenty prestigious objects, including two magnificent kris (traditional daggers) which were grouped in the ethnographic section. Dating from two centuries ago, these include a gold and silver tobacco container, silver betel utensils, a magnificent gold kendi (pitcher) and a gold-plated dulang (a wooden utensil used to husk rice) from Klungkung, Bali. A richly-decorated rebab (fiddle) and a flute made of tortoise shell, bamboo and gold are set off by a round gold prada shield from Madura. The only ceramic piece in this show is a covered bowl which was discovered in Goa, Sulawesi, and originates from Vietnam. It is covered by a network of silver, overlayed with gold.