Once a dreaded court, now museum

Once a dreaded court, now museum

By Ida Indawati Khouw and Cecile Prevost

The Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics in downtown Kota is a
window into the way the Dutch colonial authorities treated people
convicted of crimes. This is the 51st article on historical sites
of Old Batavia.

JAKARTA (JP): The history of the Museum of Fine Arts and
Ceramics in Chinatown (or Kota), wasn't always fine, nor had it
anything to do with the arts.

The spacious complex, which has a majestic classical style
with its big porticoes and wide high doors, was designed as a
court building during the Dutch colonial times.

The complex was built between 1866 and 1870 to function as the
new Raad van Justitie (court of justice), which previously
occupied a part of the Stadhuis or City Hall building. The old
hall is now the Jakarta Historical Museum and is located nearby.

The Dutch authorities decided to construct a new building for
the court due to the growing number of cases which the City Hall
could no longer accommodate.

The architect of the court building was W.H.F.H. van Raders,
who worked with a construction company called Drossacras & Co..
The construction project cost 269,000 guilders, according to the
Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics guidebook.

The institution was the highest court during the reign of the
Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) and right up to the middle of the
19th century.

From the time it was founded in 1690, the court was made up of
five appointed citizens and four VOC officials, according to
Adolf Heuken's book Historical Sites of Jakarta.

It dealt with all the usual legal cases of the citizens of
Batavia. Cases were heard concerning large debts and all things
related to the general welfare of the citizens including
licensing and regulations for the building and maintenance of the
city's streets, bridges and canals, controlling public
foundations, taxes, weights and measures, markets and prices.

The court functioned not only as an institution to preside
over criminal cases but it also heard cases of subversion against
the colonial government and of efforts to undermine the authority
of colonial officials.

Those who were sentenced to imprisonment were sent to the
Stadhuis which had several prison cells while those who were
sentenced to death were executed at what is now Fatahillah Square
in front of the City Hall (see also Save Old Batavia, The Jakarta
Post Aug. 21, 1999).

Stories abound about the cruel methods of punishment for
convicts, some of which can be read in Heuken's book.

One particular story involves teenager Sara Specx, the
illegitimate daughter of an Indies council member, Jacques Specx.
Sara was entrusted to the notorious Governor General Jan
Pieterszoon Coen when the father left for the Netherlands.

The lover of the 13-year-old Sara, Pieter J. Cortenhoeff,
often visited her until late at night after bribing guardians of
Coen's house.

Coen was so angry when he learnt of the covert affair
happening in his house that he ordered the couple beheaded. Only
after the intervention of the Raad van Justitie chairman did the
case reach the court.

Under heavy pressure from the governor general, the court
decided to sentence Cortenhoeff to death at the Fatahillah square
while Sara was severely whipped at the entrance.

During the English occupation between 1811 and 1816, the
function of the justice institution was extended under the name
"Supreme Court of Justice".

The Dutch government, when it regained power, established
several councils of justice, while in 1870 the court of justice
was moved to the present Museum of Fine Art and Ceramics, which
was called the Paleis van Justitie (Palace of Justice).

According to Batavia als Handel, Industrie en Woonstad
(Batavia as a Commercial, Industrial and Residential Center),
people could obtain legal advice from some 50 lawyers and
barristers and four notary public offices.

There is no data regarding the last days of the court of
justice. But during the Japanese occupation (between 1942 and
1945), the building was used as a military barracks and equipment
storage center until the end of the independence struggle in
1949.

After that, for about 13 years, it was turned into military
accommodation. It was given a new function in 1967 when the
beautiful building became the office of the West Jakarta
Mayoralty until 1973.

On June 10, 1977 it was made Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics,
inaugurated by the then Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin.

At present, the building which is located on Jl. Pos Kota No.
2 is protected by law. There is no sign of past cruelty and
probably few people in the street are aware of its past history.

Its two shady courtyards in the center of the complex are an
ideal place for people enjoying the museum's collections to sit
and relax.

The front part of the building is double-storied, with a pair
of round well-ornamented iron staircases. It is the place where
about 2,000 ceramic pieces can be seen, most being donated by
(the late) vice president Adam Malik and the Indonesian Ceramic
Society.

The ceramic collection include Chinese pieces from the Ming
and Yuan dynasties, as well as pieces from Thailand, Japan and
Europe.

It also displays locally made ceramics and antiques from the
ancient Javanese kingdom of Majapahit, pottery from Sulawesi and
Palembang in South Sumatra, Plered in West Java and Kalimantan.

While rooms at the sides of the courtyards are used to display
paintings and drawings, as well as several statues of the great
Indonesian artists.