Not just collected for pride

By Eddy Soetriyono

JAKARTA (JP): In the old days, primitive tribes would collect the skulls of the enemies they had beheaded to prove their prowess. For the same purpose, agrarian communities would collect the horns of buffaloes they had slaughtered and the Javanese would only feel contented if, apart from owning a big house and a horse, they could own a beautiful keris (Javanese dagger).

In our modern society, people take pride in not only their luxury houses and cars, but also in their collections of paintings or antiques, both being works of a high aesthetic value.

"Someone has a progressive way of thinking only when he understands art," said Tong Djoe, an Indonesian shipping tycoon, also known as a collector of thousands of antiques, especially old ceramic jugs. "I like collecting old porcelain jugs as they take a long time to make," he said.

The love for art is an important aspect for a collector of antique ceramics. Abu Ridho, a ceramic specialist formerly serving as the curator at the National Museum, cited three criteria in antique ceramics collection: visually attractive, good condition (defect-free) and unique colors.

He showed two Chinese ceramics from the Tang dynasty (8th century). One of the ceramics has unique colors and the other a unique form. It is hardly possible to find other items like these two elsewhere, which explains why they can reach billions of rupiah in value.

Being unique means being rare, and a rare item is usually expensive, something that the owner can take pride in. Eleven years ago, PT Wisesa, one of Tommy Soeharto's companies, discovered some 30,000 pieces of ceramic items from the Sung dynasty (960-1279). These are rare antiques today, even in their country of origin, China. (In Indonesia, an item of existing for at least 50 years may be called antique while in the U.S. an item will be considered antique when it has been existence for at least a century.)

Of course before PT Wisesa discovered these Sung-dynasty ceramics, their prices were exorbitant. However, Wisesa's discovery caused a price drop because of an oversupply. The latest report said that these antiques are now piled up in a neglected state in a warehouse on Batam Island.

Abundant stock normally causes the prices of antiques originating from the same dynasty to drop and naturally those coming from later dynasties will fare worse.

Before the glorious days of Michael Hatcher, considered a 'hero' for his success in salvaging antique treasures from shipwrecks, ceramics dating back to the Han dynasty (between 206 and 220 A.D.) could fetch US$30,000 per piece. However, today, again due to an abundant supply, they fetch $4,000 maximum.

'Tek Sing' ceramics

Different places have different stories. The price of an antique piece does not depend only on the product, but also on its 'placing' or distribution. The scarcity of Chinese ceramics in Europe has upped the prices, for example, in the case of some three hundred and fifty thousand 19th-century pieces salvaged by Michael Hatcher from the wreckage of S.S. Tek Sing, which sank in the waters between Sumatra and Singapore in 1822.

In Indonesia, the Tek Sing ceramics, regarded as having a low historical value and average glaze quality, are almost worthless, as the highest price is only around Rp 100,000. But in Germany, with a mighty Rp 24 billion promotional budget in the style of Nagel Auction Center (who also staged a road show to New York, London, Verona, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore), the antique items reached Rp 40 million apiece in last year's auctions.

A change in taste or style can also transform what is perceived as being rare. Over the past few years ethnic based interior styles have become increasingly fashionable, especially among expatriates and followed later by wealthy Indonesians. As a result, gebyok (a Javanese wooden partition adorned with engraving), previously very easy to find, is now a rare item. Similarly, village tables made from natural tree forms are hard to find. Nowadays, along the main roads of Boyolali and Solo regencies, hundreds of lumpang (mortars) and komboran (containers of drinking water for cattle) are sold at prices ranging from Rp 250,000 up to Rp 400,000. Both these items are currently popular export commodities.

Teguh Edhieyanto, a painter who regularly collects a variety of antiques, including items from Indonesia like bronze statues, stones, terracotta pieces of the classical period, keris, masks, photographs and even paintings of the Mooi Indie period, gebyok and wooden mortars are on display at Leiden Museum and the National Museum in Washington DC.

Terracotta pieces from the Majapahit Kingdom era are also eagerly hunted by collectors. Abu Ridho said that the grandeur of the Majapahit Kingdom has made antique and artifact collectors intensely interested in statuettes in the shape of heads or headless bodies from the Trowulan site in East Java.

A small glazed porcelain item, which used to be easily obtainable and was therefore worthless, is now a rarity costing some $100 per piece. The popularity of these Trowulan artifacts have led to their frequent forgery, Abu added.

The style and opulence of Majapahit, a kingdom which used to control the entire Indonesian archipelago, has been common theme for advertisements made by a number of hotels in Bali and East Java.

The curator of a gallery of antique goods and artifacts based in Surabaya and having a branch office in Cipete, Jakarta, said that many foreigners and indigenous people alike have bought up terracotta replicas of items actually dating back to the era of the Kingdom of Majapahit.

In interviews with The Jakarta Post, a number of gallery owners in Surabaya and also star-rated hotels in Jakarta all agreed about this trend.

Fake antiques

Rarity, however, may encourage antique and artifacts vendors to make short-cuts to make money. Instead of selling the replicas, they have tried to produce fake antiques. Abu Ridho said that antiques most often forged are Chinese ceramics and Majapahit terracotta pieces.

Once, Abu said, several collectors approached him about porcelain jugs they had just bought from a famous tycoon and well-known antique collector. To their dismay, none of the jugs were genuine.

If these forged antiques are made in Plered or Lombok, Abu said, they are relatively easy to detect for the poor quality of the ornaments and the strokes of the brush. However, if these forged items come from China or Taiwan, they can only be detected by ceramics experts. In China and Taiwan, some antiques have been forged deliberately for studies. As a result, these ceramics are near perfect. In some cases, however, they are too perfect for an antique piece.

Abu is also preparing a display room for his ceramics collection in his house in Kebayoran Lama. In this room, genuine and forged items will be put side by side.

Some collectors cheat to make easy profits. These people are usually well versed in this subject but to make money they will not hesitate to tell people that genuine items are fake or the other way around. Once, a noted terracotta collector, who was also the consultant for the renovation of "Oud Batavia", insisted that Abu should state that some forged items in his collection were genuine. Abu, however, refused to comply.

These ugly practices are worrying to Teguh Edhieyanto because they will add confusion to the antique business, an activity which seems to be carried out in a highly secretive manner.

Batavia Auction Center, which is now preparing to make itself a professional auction center like Christie's or Sotheby's, said M. Ramzy Nasroen will hold an exhibition of antique goods after its auction of Indonesian paintings slated for September this year.

Will another auction center, Larasati, follow suit? A question arises: Will these activities ensure that Indonesia's antique and artifacts market will be in better order? The answer is, just wait and see.