Singkawang jars in the hands of the Lord

Text and photos by Imran Rusli

SINGKAWANG, West Kalimantan (JP): "Without the hands of the Lord, my jars wouldn't exist," insisted Budiyanto, the owner of the Tajau Mas water jar factory in Sakok, West Kalimantan.

According to Budi, his father started him jar making when he was six years old. Their factory produced various Chinese-looking jars which, at the time, were in demand with the affluent of Jakarta.

"I remember how lively the market used to be in the 1970s and 1980s," reminisced the father of three children.

Tajau Mas water jars were mostly bought by collectors living in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Denpasar, Medan and Pekanbaru. There are also many buyers in Sarawak, Sabah, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Brunei.

"There were even merchants who sold them to European buyers through their art galleries in Bali," added Budi. "They once transferred 200 jars made in our factory by plane to Denpasar. I don't know how much they fixed the price for per item, to think they had to cover the costs of chartering the plane and earn some profit as well," he said, clicking his tongue in admiration.

Collectors and merchants prefer air service to transport the jars. Sea transport is less desirable because the jars are so delicate they break while being loaded and unloaded, especially if transported on small, wobbly Madura sailboats. The jars will break into countless of pieces "even though we have provided the utmost care in packing," Budi said. He explained that they stuff and swath the jars with hay before putting them in special boxes.

"They buy them in bulk. Some buy as many as 20 pieces. Designs are usually ours, but some order our products to be made after their own designs. The samples are usually copied from prestigious ceramic magazines," said Budi.

"But, all of the jars have actually been molded with the help of the Lord's hands."

Budi believes his jars aren't special. They don't differ from the products of the six other ceramic factories in Sakok.

"But, the Lord's hands help make our jars, so they're more beautiful," he said.

He chortled, hurriedly protesting when someone asked whether "The Lord only belongs to Tajau Mas, or, do you believe that the Lord wants to become a worker in Tajau Mas?"

"No, no. It isn't like that," he replied, his face going pale. "I mean that with every jar, we always call upon the Lord, right from the start until the very end.

"My father, me and two other jar experts never forget to pray before we start working on the jars. We do it again after work, we always praise the Lord profoundly after the jars have been fired and taken out from the kiln. We also pray when the products have been loaded on trucks, ready for transportation to the harbor."

He pointed at a Chinese altar near the factory door.

"We always pray there, that's why the Lord and our forefathers love us," he said, very sure of himself.

The Tajau Mas jars are very popular in Singkawang.

"Their products are refined, just like the originals," praised Abbas, a village leader in the Sambas district, who once visited water jar factories in China.

Rusdi, who supplies water jars to hotels in Singkawang and Pontianak, also admires Budi's work.

"Tajau Mas is not the largest jar factory in West Kalimantan, but their jars are the most beautiful," he said.

Aside from the Lord, it appears Tajau Mas' secret lies in Budi, whose perseverance in selling and creating new motifs, textures, colors and models, has paid of. The composition of clay and firing temperatures also adds to the jars' success.

"I copied the technique from foreign magazines and books, brought in by our customers," said Budi, whose faithful customers include Sumarah Adyatman, a connoisseur of ceramics and rare Indonesian beads.

Jars are still in demand with Jakarta's affluent and the rich in other large cities of Indonesia, but the Singkawang products -- still being fired in traditional kilns -- have taken a backseat to Chinese-made jars.

The markets of Batam, Pekanbaru and Jakarta abound in jars which closely resemble original Chinese versions. There are jars as high as four meters tall.

The kilns of Singkawang's jar factories are now mainly producing roof tiles, bricks, cups, bowls, jugs and kettles.

Even orders for jars used to collect rain water, which were a necessity for Singkawang citizens because of the poor quality of drink water in the Sambas district, have ceased. Budi couldn't compete with the more practical plastic buckets.

"The good times are over," said Budi sadly.