VO LU M E 2 3 N O.

1 M A R C H 2 0 1 4

the journal of
the asian arts society
of australia

TAASA Review
ROYAL COLLECTIONS IN ASIA

c o n t en t s
Volume 23 No. 1 March 2014

3 Ed itor ial : R OYA L CO LLE CT I O N S I N A S I A

TAA S A R E V I E W

Melanie Eastburn & Niki van den Heuvel, Guest Editors

P URI AGUNG : P R ESER VI NG KARANGA SEMS ROYAL PALAC E I N B ALI

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC.

Abn 64093697537 Vol. 23 No.1, March 2014
ISSN 1037.6674

Niki van den Heuvel

7 THE ROYAL AN TI Q U ITIES COLL ECTION O F T H E NGU YEN DY N A S T Y, V I E T N A M

Kerry Nguyen-Long

Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

e di torI A L email: editorial@taasa.org.au

General editor, Josefa Green

pub l i c at i ons c ommi t t ee

10 THE JEW ELL ED WORLD O F BU R MESE KI NGS

Charlotte Galloway

12 THE ROYAL C OLL ECTIONS I N CIREBO N, I NDO NESIA : A LI V I N G TRADITION

Joanna Barrkman

14 THE QUEEN SIRIKIT MUSEUM OF TEXTILES, BANGKOK

Piyanan (Poom) Petcharaburanin

16 The Shoso - in tr e asur y a r oyal c o l l ectio n b oth ext raordi n a ry a n d eve ry day

Robyn Maxwell

18 THE HOFFOTO GRAAF: P ORTRAIT P H OTO GRA P H ER TO ROYALT Y I N A S IA

Gael Newton

22

MODEST CONNOISSEUR: INDONESIAN TEXTILES IN THE LIVES OF JOHN YU & GEORGE SOUTTER

Siobhan Campbell

Josefa Green (convenor) Tina Burge

Melanie Eastburn Sandra Forbes Charlotte Galloway
William Gourlay Marianne Hulsbosch
Jim Masselos Ann Proctor Sabrina Snow
Christina Sumner
desi gn/ l ayou t

Ingo Voss, VossDesign

p ri n t i ng

John Fisher Printing

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc.

PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011
www.taasa.org.au
Enquiries: admin@taasa.org.au
TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members
of The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. TAASA Review welcomes
submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and
performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and
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26 ROYAL ART IN T H E COLL ECTION O F T H E NATIO NAL GALLE R Y O F AUS TRALIA

No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of

Melanie Eastburn

28

BOO K REVIEW: PHOTO GR A PHI N G I N DI A S PR I N CE S

Review as a result of material published within its pages or

Jim Masselos

in other material published by it. We reserve the right to alter

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30 REC EN T TAAS A ACTI VITIES

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30 TAAS A Membe r s D iar y: MA R CH - MAY 2014

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TAA S A c o mm i t t ee

E DITORIAL : R O Y A L C O L L E C I O N S I N A S I A

G i ll Gr een President

Melanie Eastburn & Niki van den Heuvel, Guest Editors

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

A NN PROC TOR Vice President

Art historian with a particular interest in Vietnam

To dd Sund er man TR EASUR E R

Former Asian antique dealer, with a particular interest

in Tibetan furniture
Dy Andr eas en SECR ETARY

Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry

Hwei-fe n cheah

Visiting Fellow, School of Cultural Inquiry, Australian

National University.
M at t Cox

Assistant Curator, Asian Art, Art Gallery of NSW

Charlotte Galloway

Lecturer Asian Art History and Curatorial Studies,

Australian National University, with a special interest
in the Buddhist Art of Myanmar
Jo sefa Gr een

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of

Chinese ceramics
ANN GUILD

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

MIN-JUNG KIM

Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum

Yuk ie S ato

Former Vice President of the Oriental Ceramic Society of

the Philippines with wide-ranging interest in Asian art
and culture
SUSAN SC OLLAY

Art historian and curator specialising in the arts of Islam

and in historic textiles. She is Fellow of the Royal Asiatic
Society of the UK.
CHRI STIN A SUMN ER

Former Principal Curator, Design and Society,

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
M argar et White

Former President and Advisor of the Friends of Museums,

Singapore, with special interest in Southeast Asian art,
ceramics and textiles
s t a t e r ep r esen t a t i ves
Australian Capital Territory
M ela nie Eastbu r n

Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

Queensland
Russel l Stor er

Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art,

Queensland Art Gallery
South Australia
James Bennett

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

Victoria

When the idea for a special TAASA Review

issue devoted to royal collections of Asia was
suggested by Gael Newton and Robyn Maxwell
the concept was immediately appealing.
From the earliest conversations regarding
the content of this issue we realized that it
was vast with possibilities and enough ideas
for several volumes presented themselves.
We are pleased that the final result brings to
readers a selection including less well-known
and sometimes surprising collections, most of
which are accessible to the public.
Throughout Asia some of the finest arts
have been produced under the patronage
of powerful rulers who sought to mark and
assert their presence through the construction
of palatial and secular architecture and the
commissioning of lavish ceremonial and
courtly goods. Imperial dynasties established
across expansive mainland and insular
regions have resulted in a rich diversity of
royal treasures. Although many are now
included in international collections, private
and public, others remain in situ. While royal
holdings in India and Japan are explored
in this issue, Southeast Asia is a particular
focus, with most articles relating to courts in
Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Piyanan Petcharaburanin from the Queen
Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok gives
an introduction to the Museum from its
inception to its current role as a state of the
art institution inspired by the passion of
Queen Sirikit. In November 2013 the Museum
hosted an exceptional conference, Weaving
royal traditions through time, which included
diverse sessions spanning textiles for the Thai
court and conservation at the Royal Textile
Academy of Bhutan to contemporary fashion
designed for the royal families of Malaysia
and Brunei.
Following a fortuitously timed visit to Japan in
2012, Robyn Maxwell writes about the precious
8th century objects associated with the reign
of Emperor Shomu and stored at the Shoso-in
repository of Todai-ji temple in Nara. A rotating
selection of these works of art is available for
viewing for just a few days each year.

Ca ro l C ains

Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International

Charlotte Galloway looks at treasures from

the courts of Burma that have survived a

tumultuous history, some of which are now

displayed at the National Museum in Yangon.
From descriptions of the gilded opulence of
the 16th century to the deposal of the last
Burmese king Thibaw in 1885 and the ensuing
years of colonization and independence,
Charlotte gives insight into the meaning and
purpose of these exceptional works of art.
Focusing on the royal antiquities of Vietnams
Nguyen dynasty, Kerry Nguyen-Long has
written a fascinating history of the dynastys
regalia. Along with a detailed account of some
of the most prized seals, crowns and jade
objects, Kerry provides an in-depth account of
their production in dedicated handicraft units.
Indonesia receives attention from a number
of perspectives this issue. Inspired by recent
travels, Joanna Barrkman describes a unique
display of ceramics as well as wayang kulit
puppets in royal collections in Cirebon,
alongside investigation into the development
of Cirebon batik motifs. Further emphasis on
Indonesian textiles is provided by Siobhan
Campbell who discusses a forthcoming
exhibition of cloths from the collection of John
Yu and his late partner George Soutter.
Gael Newton, whose exhibition Garden of the
East: photography in Indonesia 1850s1940s at the
National Gallery of Australia coincides with
this edition of the TAASA Review, discusses
the way in which interest in photography, in
particular portrait photography of royalty,
spread rapidly from Europe to the courts of
Thailand and Indonesia from the mid 19th
century. Photography is also explored in
Jim Masselos review of Pramod Kumars
sumptuous book Posing for Posterity: Royal
Indian Portraits, an investigation into
photographs belonging to the royal families
of India.

As guest editors we are also happy to have

been able to contribute content on collections
close to our hearts. Reflecting on time spent
working in Bali and Lombok, Niki gives a
personal take on the history and holdings
of Puri Karangasem where she worked as a
curator for a year, while Melanie considers
a group of objects associated with royal
dynasties in various parts of Asia which are
now held by the National Gallery of Australia.

P U RI A G U N G : P R E S E R V I N G K ARA N G A S E M S RO Y AL P ALA C E I N B ALI

Niki van den Heuvel
The towering gateways of Puri Agung adorned with carved guardian
figures and molded stucco reliefs. PHOTO: Niki van den Heuvel

rom 2011 to 2012 I spent a year living in

Bali and Lombok working as a curator
at the Puri Karangasem Historical Society,
an initiative started by members of the
Karangasems royal family to conserve their
cultural heritage through print publications,
digital documentation and preservation.
My placement was supported by Australian
Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD)
and provided me with a unique insight into
one of Balis living royal collections.

Prior to the advent of Dutch colonial rule in the

Indonesian archipelago, the island of Bali was
divided into numerous kingdoms subject, yet
not always loyal, to a supreme king, the Dewa
Agung of Bali. One of the most powerful of
these was the Kingdom of Karangasem which
occupied a considerable portion of eastern
Bali, an area reflected today by the boundaries
of its namesake district. At the height of its
power Karangasems territories also included
the island of Lombok and significant portions
of northern Bali.
The politics of the Karangasem dynasty
were often complex with various factions in
eastern Bali and Lombok vying for absolute
power throughout its history. Sometimes at
odds, these factions nevertheless shared a
common ancestry, tracing their descent to
Gusti Anglurah (Ngurah) Batan Jeruk, or
rather his nephew. The prime minister, or
patih, of the Gelgel kingdom, Batun Jeruk
fled to the islands east in the mid 16th
century following an unsuccessful rebellion
against his ruler Dalem Bekung. According to
dynastic genealogies and historical sources,
Karangasem was established by Batun Jeruks
adopted nephew and heir, Gusti Wayan Oka,
and his son, Ida I Gusti Nyoman Karang.
From these founding ancestors, there issued a
complex genealogy of descendants who ruled
and expanded the kingdom up until the late
19th century (Vickers n.d).
Numerous palaces and temples erected by
Karangasems rulers in Bali and Lombok
remain intact to this day. Nestled in the town
of Amlapura on the coast of Karangasem, Puri
Agung was home to the last rajas of the realm.
Still lived in and cared for by the dynastys
descendants, Puri Agung was constructed
at the end of the 19th century by Anak
Agung Gusti Ged Jelantik (r. 18931908)
and subsequently renovated and expanded
by his nephew and heir Anak Agung Agung

Anglurah Ketut Karangasem (r. 19081950).

Following the expansion of the Dutch East
Indies into Bali at the turn of the 20th century
these two figures reigned as stedehouders, or
regents, for the Dutch colonial power.

gardens and interspersed with ceremonial

pavilions, temples and towering kori agung
gateways which house the spirit guardians
that welcome and protect residents and guests
within the palace.

Protected by ubiquitous Balinese red-brick

walls on three sides and a sheer incline to
the east, Puri Agung consists of numerous
buildings constructed to house the rulers,
their family and an extensive household
of advisors, minsters, priests, guards and
servants. These abodes are surrounded
by beautifully landscaped courtyards and

While many of the residences of Puri Agung

are home to the descendants of Anak Agung
Agung Anglurah Ketut Karangasem with
his 10 wives the last Raja legitimately sired
16 sons and 19 daughters his quarters have
remained unoccupied since his death in 1966.
Entitled Maskerdam by the Raja himself, the
building demonstrates his reverence to The

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Anak Agung Gusti Ged Jelantik and nephew and heir

Anak Agung Agung Anglurah Ketut Karangasem read
from a lontar manuscript. Courtesy KITLV collection

A pedanda Siwa and pedanda Buddha conduct odalan rites at Puri Agung. PHOTO: Niki van den Heuvel

Netherlands in its architecture, a fusion of

Dutch-inspired styles with local Balinese
and Chinese elements, and through its name
which refers to the city of Amsterdam.

own name, history and magical properties,

are re-united as a group where they are
inspected, cleaned and discussed among the
male members of the family.

and rabbits, the local style is distinctly visible

in the red brick foundations with their stucco
bas reliefs, and in the trabeated supports with
their ornate makara carvings.

Visitors are welcomed by the family to enter

the chambers in which the last Raja slept
and entertained esteemed guests. A museum
of sorts, Maskerdam houses some of the last
remaining treasures of the rajas. These include
an ornately carved and gilded marble-topped
table and chairs given to the Raja by Queen
Wilhelmina of The Netherlands (r. 1890
1948) along with a handful of photographs
portraying the last rajas of Karangasem in Bali
and Lombok.

Adjacent to the rajas former residence are

ceremonial pavilions used for the various
rituals of ones lifecycle. These include the
bale ekalanga in which newly married couples
spent their first night and the elevated bale
pawedaan used for rites of passage such as
tooth filing. The bale pawedaan is also the site
at which pedanda or brahmana priests perform
the prayers to accompany the rites carried
out prior to cremation in and around the
neighbouring bale pemandesan.

Maskerdams splendid verandah is used today

for ceremonies associated with weddings and
other important dates on the Balinese ritual
calendar. During such occasions the old palace
comes alive with colourful ceremonial regalia
and offerings made to appease ancestors and
spirits. For the most important occasions,
a family wedding or the inauguration the
head of the family for example, garments and
textiles worn by the last Raja and his wives are
brought out from safe keeping and worn by
his descendants. The attire includes western
style jackets in wool and velvet, embellished
with gold braid as well as sumptuous songket
skirt cloths.

Each structure demonstrates the fusion of

local Balinese architecture with Chinese
design elements. While the latter is manifest
through brightly painted open work lattices
featuring auspicious motifs of swastikas, eight
petalled lotuses, mythical lion-like barong

Ornate friezes and panels adorn many of

the gateways and buildings of Puri Agung.
These reliefs are unique, having been molded
from stucco rather than carved in low relief
from stone. In varying states of disrepair the
dynamic recurring motifs and scenes include
the Rajas emblem, a regal winged beast or
singa, guardian figures and Hindu deities, and
epic battle scenes. In an effort to preserve these
scenes, members of the Karangasem family
have been slowly working to consolidate
the Puris reliefs using modern materials to
recreate the most damaged examples.
A recurring theme in the architectural designs
conceived by the last Raja is the water palace
or garden. Occupying the centre of Puri Agung
is the impressive pavilion known as bale

In accordance with the Balinese ritual

calendar, the descendants of Karangasem
gather every 210 days on the day known as
Tumpek Landep. On this day dedicated to steel
objects, the heirloom keris bequeathed to the
sons, and now grandsons, of the last Raja are
presented with offerings and cleansed and
purified by a balian, or shamanic priest, who
intones the correct mantras for appeasing the
ancestral deities contained within each blade.
On this day the Rajas keris, each with their
A view of the bale pawedaan and bale pemandesan from Puri Agungs water pavilion. PHOTO: Niki van den Heuvel

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Descendants of Anak Agung Agung Anglurah Ketut Karangasem gather at Puri Agung
for Tukang Landep to bless the keris bequeathed to his sons. Photo: Niki van den Heuvel

religion, philosophy, literature and poetry.

Included among the rajas collection were
numerous lontar manuscript dating from the
early to late 19th century. Today these are
kept by the last Rajas only surviving son,
Professor A. A. Ged Putra Agung, formerly
the Head of Research in Culture and Tourism
at Udayana University and presently the head
of the Karangasem royal family. Also in the
Professors collection are important historical
documents including genealogical charts,
awards and honours bestowed upon both
rajas, along with correspondence between the
house of Karangasem and the offices of Her
Majesty Queen Wilhelmina.
Today, care of the Puri, both physical and
spiritual, falls to the last Rajas descendants
with many still living within Puri Agung
or travelling between their new homes and
Amlapura. Along with the daily offerings
required to appease the gods and ancestors
numerous ceremonies are held throughout
the year in accordance with the Balinese
ritual calendar including galungan during
which time the deified ancestors of living
Hindus return to their original abodes and
must be housed and entertained and odalan
ceremonies which are dictated by the cycle of
the moon and honour the dedication of the
familys numerous temples.

kambang. Surrounded entirely by water, once

sourced from a local spring, the bale kambang is
reached via a footbridge from the surrounding
courtyard. The impressive floating palace is
surrounded by sculptural fountains in the
form of mythical winged beasts and serpents.
Used as a space to entertain important guests
the bale kambang once housed the familys
heirloom gamelan, now in the Nyoman
Gunarsa Museum in Klungkung, a replica of
which was given to the Dutch and is now held
in Amsterdams Tropenmuseum.
Three additional water palaces were
constructed by the last Raja in the early 20th
century. Of these only two remain, Tirtagangga
and the extensively renovated Taman Ujung.
Designed by the Raja himself and also fed by a
natural spring, the pools of Tirtagangga were
constructed from 1948 as a place of recreation
for his family and people. Hampered by the
eruptions of Gunung Agung in 1963 and lack
of funds, the completion of the project was
achieved only after the last Rajas death, due
in great part to the efforts of his son Dr Anak

Agung Made Djelantik (19192007) and his

children. Completed in 1921 and used by the
last Raja to entertain his wives and guests,
the water palace and terraces of Taman
Ujung also sustained extensive damage from
Gunung Agungs eruptions and the 1976
earthquake. These have since undergone
extensive restoration and like Tirtagangga are
open to visitors.
The splendor of the Karangasem court is
encapsulated in beautiful photographs that
document the households of the rajas, their
palaces, and important occasions including
visits by Dutch officials. Many of these images
survive in international collections including
the Tropenmuseum and the National Gallery
of Australia. In a particularly touching image
a young Anak Agung Agung Anglurah Ketut
Karangasem kneels beside his uncle Anak
Agung Gusti Ged Jelantik, and reads from a
lontar (palm leaf) manuscript.
While never formally educated, the last Raja
had a great passion for the study of Balinese

During the odalan for Puri Agungs ancestral

temple, anniversary worshippers gather in
the family temple which houses the shrines
of the dynastys forebears and deities. At such
times one may catch a glimpse of the female
descendants of Karangasem performing
Balinese dance or a pedanda Siwa and pedanda
Buddha conducting the odalan ceremony as
the family perform appropriate prayers and
offerings.
The Karangasem palace architecture, gardens,
buildings, ceremonial regalia and documents
shared among the rajas descendants have
an important place in Balinese history and
art history. Just as important is the intangible
heritage of ceremony and custom passed
down through generations and still practiced
today. It is hoped that with continued
dedication and care by their descendants,
the legacies and collections of Anak Agung
Gusti Ged Jelantik and Anak Agung Agung
Anglurah Ketut Karangasem will continue to
remain for future generations.
Niki van den Heuvel is an Assistant Curator of Asian
art at the National Gallery of Australia

REFERENCES
Vickers, A., n.d. A history of the Karangasem dynasty, unpublished.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

T H E RO Y AL A N TI Q U ITI E S C OLL E C TIO N O F T H E N G U Y E N D Y N A S T Y, V I E T N A M

Kerry Nguyen-Long
Seal, Hoang de ton than chi bao, r. of Minh Menh, 1828. Gold, 8.7kg. Royal antiquities
collection of the Nguyen Dynasty, National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi

n the afternoon of 30 August 1945 a

crowd gathered in front of the Ngo
Mon Gate entrance to the Imperial City in
Hue. They were there to hear King Bao Dai
(r.1925-1945) read the abdication edict. The
king wore his imperial robes, golden turban
and beaded footwear. Standing at the head of
the steps on the Five-Phoenix Pavilion, and
aided by a microphone, he read the edict,
his voice resonating with emotion. Against
the background of a 21-gun salute the royal
standard slowly descended the flagpole
and the yellow star with red background
was raised. Bao Dai formally presented the
deputy chairman of the National Liberation
Committee, bespectacled Tran Huy Lieu, with
the royal regalia, a 7.8 kg gold seal and a royal
sword sheathed in jade inlay. Tran Huy Lieu
then raised the heavy seal high so that the
crowd might see it (Marr: 1995).

Following his abdication, monarch-turnedcitizen Nguyen Phuc Vinh Thuy vacated the
palace and, except for his personal effects
and those of the queen and queen mother, all
property reverted to the state. The property
inherited by the new administration, now
known as the royal antiquities collection of
the Nguyen Dynasty, included objects of ritual
significance: royal seals, crowns, ceremonial
swords, ceremonial dishes, censers and
gold books with silver covers. There are
items of jewellery, tea-sets, writing sets and
ornaments made from gold, silver and silvergilt embellished with jade, ivory, pearls and
faceted gemstones.
All were transferred to Hanoi. However, the
seal and sword handed over by Bao Dai at
his abdication was lost and there are several
differing reports on what happened. It seems
initially they were despatched north and
secured, but as the resistance war began they
were hidden in a pagoda, and in the ensuing
fighting uncovered by French forces who
handed them over to the ex-king. At some
considerably later date the sword passed into
the possession of his son Nguyen Phuc Bao
Long. It is understood the seal, Hoang de chi
bao, cast in 1823, is currently in the possession
of Mme Monique Baudot who married the exking in 1972.
In December 1959 the remainder of the
treasure was transferred from the Ministry
of Finance to the National Museum of
Vietnamese History in Hanoi. In 1961 an

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

exhibition of selected objects was mounted for

public viewing. Unfortunately, the seal Hoang
hau chi bao, one of a pair issued to Queen Nam
Phuong (1914-1963), was stolen. Thereafter
the collection was secured in storage under
a special arrangement. In 2007 the Ministry
of Culture and Information allocated a fund
to facilitate storage of the treasure and under
this new arrangement the museum became
the repository of a significant number of the
seals. Eighty-five seals from the collection
were published for the first time in a book
commemorating the 1000 year anniversary
of the founding of Thang Long (Hanoi) in
October 2010 (Nguyen Dinh Chien, Pham
Quoc Quan, Nguyen Cong Viet: 2009).
All the seals, with the exception of four, date
to the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). These are
significant seals of the dynastys kings and
crown princes as well as posthumous seals,
and others in the category of queen, kings
mother and adoptive mother. The kings seals
are symbols of his supreme authority and thus
represent the authority of the dynasty. All
are recorded in the official historical records.
The survival of the actual seals enhances this
sigillography, with its detailed history, age,
distinction of types, manner of use, and legal

function of each (see Kerry Nguyen-Long &

Nguyen Dinh Chien: 2010).
In 1802 the first king of the Nguyen Dynasty,
Nguyen Phuc Anh ascended the throne under
the reign name Gia Long (r.1802-1819) and
held court in Phu Xuan (Hue). The country,
unified after 30 years of vicious civil war,
extended from the Chinese border in the north
to the Gulf of Siam in the south. The new king
was faced with the daunting task of building
a nation from the rubble and founded the
dynasty on a firm Confucian foundation. He
implemented a new administration, creating
an executive system with six ministries,
and established the Imperial Academy,
constructed a Temple of Literature in the
new capital and held examinations to choose
the most talented scholars to serve in his
administration. Law and order, the taxation
system, infrastructure and industrial works,
all in neglect and disrepair after years of
warfare, received urgent attention. By the
time of his death Hue was secure as the centre
of an organized administration system of the
unified country.
There are 13 seals from the reign of Gia
Long, and 14 from his successor Minh Menh

Crown, Mu THUONG trieu, Gold, faceted gemstones, pearls, cloth, 600gr. Royal antiquities
collection of the Nguyen Dynasty, National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi

There were also private units working with an

elected leader who submitted an application
to the head of the province for a licence. The
leader was the mediator for dealings between
the unit and the Court, and the craftsmen
provided services on a contractual basis.
The administration of the units was the
responsibility of the Ministry of Public Works
while work programming was coordinated
with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry
of War. The Armoury operated under this
administrative umbrella and was responsible
for the casting of the gold and silver royal seals.
The crowns in the collection had badly
deteriorated during storage. In 2008 gold
jeweller and historian Vu Kim Loc was
assigned the task of researching and restoring
four to their original state. The crown, mu
thuong trieu, weighing 660 g is representative
of its type. The black fabric covering the
armature is a perfect foil for the gold and
jewelled assemblage and delicate filigree wirework panels support dragons interspersed
with jewelled sunbursts and edged with
bands of pearls. The ritual sword, An dan bao
kiem, weighing 580 g, is heavily embossed and
jewel-encrusted. The treasure also includes
several gold ritual boxes, among them one
weighing 2.15 kg encrusted with jade and
coral. Its openwork cover features jade inserts
engraved with different motifs.

(1820-1840). In 1803 the Ty thuong bao was

established. This department had custody
of the royal seals. Gia Long issued a decree
that seals of national significance be cast in
gold. In comparison to seals in later reigns,
the seals which date to his reign bear fewer
side notations. Royal decrees stipulated all
the regulations to be followed in the casting
and engraving of a royal seal. Ceremony
surrounded every step in the process. The
design of the head of the seal was selected with
due concern for protocol and iconographic
significance. Minh Menh went on to produce a
system of seals for the dynasty. He established
the rules for their casting and use, in line with
administrative reforms and with the aim of
creating uniformity throughout the kingdom.
An heirloom seal of the realm is particularly
important as it signifies the legitimacy of the
king and continuity of the dynastic line. The
seal Dai Nam thu thien vinh menh truyen quoc
ty (Heirloom Seal of Dai Nam with Enduring
Mandate from Heaven) is made of white jade
presented to King Thieu Tri (r.1841-1847) in
1846. Documentation shows it came from
Jade Mountain, Hoa Dien District, in Quang

Nam province. Two of the heaviest seals in the

collection are from the reign of Minh Menh.
Sac menh chi bao, cast on an auspicious day in
the 10th month in the 8th year of his reign in
pure gold, weighs 223.6 taels (approximately
8.3 kg). On the same day the seal Hoang de ton
than chi bao was also cast in gold. It weighs
234.43 taels, approximately 8.7 kg and is the
largest and heaviest seal in the collection.
These treasures in the antiquities collection
were made in the dynastic handicrafts units.
This was a system of craft workshops in place
since the time of the Nguyen lords, and which
followed the system put in place during the
Le so period (1428-1527). Under the Nguyen
dynasty the system was strengthened. With
the country unified, the kings were able
to avail themselves of the most talented
craftsmen in the land. King Minh Menh set
up the Gold and Silversmith Unit, a multilayered system with master craftsmen in
permanent service to the king supported by
teams of craftsmen. Depending on demand,
the craftsmen rendered their services in the
workshops in the first half of each year, after
which they were free to return to their village.

The regal Nguyen dragon, preserve of royal

authority, is a confrontational creature with
large, fleshy head and elongated proboscis,
with a great swirling flourish to its tail, very
different to the elegant, fluid undulating
dragon of previous dynasties. These
characteristics are seen on what appears to
be a unique figurine of a three-dimensional
dragon, the body reared up and amongst
clouds. It is dated to the second year of the
reign of Thieu Tri (1842). There are numbers
of dishes all of similar shape but which vary
considerably in their style of decoration. They
range from an undated dish, possibly one of
the earliest, with the central design featuring
an elegant chased design of dragon amongst
clouds set against a background of fine
matting, to an extravagantly embellished jade
dish with an attached gold flange adorned
with gemstones. Yet another, from the reign
of Duy Tan (19071916), features a design in
high relief. All were made for ritual use. The
collections several large censers and sets of
altar vases are profusely decorated in high
relief and with great detail.
The Nguyen kings issued gold, silver and
bronze books. The illustrations on their
several pages are beautiful in their execution,

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Ritual box. Gold encrusted with jade and coral, 2.15kg.

Ritual dish, r. of Duy Tan, 1911. Gold, 31.3cm (D), 1.4kg. Royal antiquities collection

Royal antiquities collection of the Nguyen Dynasty,

of the Nguyen Dynasty, National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi

National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi

with chasing the favoured technique worked

against a background of fine matting. A
precious gold book is accompanied by its own
silver box with the cover of the box echoing
the design on the cover of the book.
Jade objects show superb craftsmanship
and were made in considerable numbers by
Nguyen craftsmen prior to the disbandment
of the handicrafts units. They include ritual
objects, some in archaic forms, tea-sets
overlaid with gold, vases, spittoons, items
for the scholars table and ornaments. There
are vessels with thin, translucent walls,
others carved in high relief and some artistic
renditions on which the skin of the jade is
retained. With the closure of the handicrafts
units, working in jade and ivory was almost
completely abandoned by 1897 (Brocheux and
Hemery: 2009).
The fourth king, Tu Duc (r.1847-1883),
scholarly and steeped in Confucianism, was
ill-equipped to resist the encroaching west and
when French forces landed on Vietnamese soil
he was unable to respond either militarily or
diplomatically. He bears the ignominy of being
the signatory to the Treaty of Saigon (known
as the unequal treaty) signed in 1862 which
delivered the country into French hands.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

To meet French demands for reparation as

stipulated in the treaty, the King ordered gold
in the kingdom be paid into the Treasury.
Under tremendous stress he also ordered
the disbandment of the official handicrafts
units. As a consequence large numbers of elite
artisans exited from Hue and returned to their
villages. Others remained but worked under
different arrangements.

in the handicrafts units of previous dynasties.

Given the often tumultuous and difficult
events of the last two centuries it is both
extraordinary and serendipitous that this
collection has survived.

By the time his successor King Dong Khanh

(r.1885-1889) mounted the throne the
emasculation of the Court was complete and
subsequent kings were regarded as compliant
puppets of the French. Texts on seals from the
reigns of Dong Khanh and Khai Dinh (r.19161925) bear witness to French administrative
presence (Kerry Nguyen-Long & Nguyen
Dinh Chien: 2010). Eight more kings
would mount the throne and ritual objects
would continue to be made under the new
arrangement.

REFERENCES

Kerry Nguyen-Long is a contributing editor of Arts

of Asia and author of Arts of Viet Nam: 1009-1945
published in Hanoi by The Gioi Publishers in 2013.

Brocheux, P. and Hemery, D. 2009. Indochina: An Ambiguous

Colonization, 1858-1954. University of California Press, Berkeley.
(trans. Ly Lan Dill-Klien et.al.)
Marr, David G. 1995: Vietnam 1945. The Quest for Power.
University of California Press, Berkeley.
Nguyen-Long, K. & Nguyen Dinh Chien 2010. The Nguyen
Dynasty Royal Seals Collection in the National Museum of
Vietnamese History in Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug, Vol 40, Issue 04,
Hong-Kong.
Nguyen Dinh Chien, Pham Quoc Quan, Nguyen Cong Viet 2009.
Royal Seals of the Nguyen Dynasty in Viet Nam. National Museum
of Vietnamese History, Ha Noi. (Bi-lingual text)

King Bao Dais abdication marked the end of

the Nguyen Dynasty, the monarchical system,
its rituals and its associated paraphernalia.
The royal antiquities collection is especially
valuable for its reliable provenance and
remarkable for its survival compared with the
heavy loss of objects made by elite craftsmen

T H E J E W E LL E D W ORLD O F B U R M E S E K I N G S
Charlotte Galloway
Lion Throne 1858, Wood, lacquer, gilding, glass.
National Museum of Myanmar, Yangon

He [the king of Pegu] wears more rubies on

him than the value of a very large city, and
he wears them on all his toes. And on his
legs he wears certain great rings of gold,
all full of the most beautiful rubies; also his
arms and his fingers all full. His ears hang
down half a palm, through the great weight
of the many jewels he wears there, so that
seeing the person of the king by a light at
night, he shines so much that he appears to
be a sun. (Varthema 1863: 219-20).

hese words, written by an Italian

adventurer Ludovico di Varthema, who
visited the court of Pegu (Bago) in Burma
around 150506, conjure up an image of a
wealthy Burmese court replete with gems and
gold and truly dazzling to early European
visitors. Other historical accounts of Burmese
kings and their courts repeat these visions
of palaces and temples of gold and silver,
gems in abundance and ornately decorated
furniture and costume.
Visitors to Burma today see evidence of such
riches in the many pagodas and temples
that are accessible to all, yet where are these
luxuriously adorned royal palaces, furnishing
and costumes now? This is a question with
no simple answer. When the last Burmese
king, Thibaw (r.18781885) was dethroned,
many royal possessions were either dispersed
or their ownership transferred to the British
colonisers. Thibaws great Lion Throne, the
Sihasana, was sent to India, while much of
the royal regalia was transferred to London,
and entered the Victoria and Albert Museum
(V&A). Without royal patronage, wooden
palaces deteriorated, burned or were later
destroyed during World War II, costumes
and textiles have succumbed to insect
damage, jewels and gold sold off, while most
palanquins and royal barges have long since
disappeared.
While much has been lost, what remains
of the last Burmese royal collection is truly
spectacular. On public display at the National
Museum in Yangon are the Lion Throne, some
royal regalia, furniture, costumes and other
royal possessions such as manuscripts and
jewellery. The complexity of the royal objects,
both in materials and decoration, makes
it easy to imagine the splendour that was
recounted by so many foreigners who visited
the courts of Burma. Surviving photographs

10

of the royal palace of Mandalay, the king and

queen, courtiers and other scenes also show
us the richness of the royal household and its
material possessions.
The Lion Throne is the only remaining
example of nine commissioned around
1858 by Thibaws predecessor King Mindon
(r.185378) who installed them in the new
Palace of Mandalay in 1859. Each featured
a specific symbol and was made of different
types of wood symbolising the eight virtues
of a king, with the Lion Throne being the most
important.
Actually, two identical Lion Thrones were
made at the time, these being traditionally
counted together. One was placed in the
Hluttaw, the court building where the king
would preside over meetings with his
ministers and pronounce royal orders. The
other, which still survives, was placed in the
Lion Throne room in the Mandalay Palace
under a seven-tiered roof. Positioned between
the main Audience Hall and the kings
own chambers, its location represented the
kingdoms centre of power (Fraser-Lu 1994:
99100). Its return by the British from India
at the time of Burmese independence in
1948 was of symbolic significance. The Lion
Throne is one of the finest extant examples
of Burmese woodcarving, with its elaborate
detailing, gilding and inlay of gems and glass
mosaics. Today it forms the centrepiece of the
National Museum of Myanmar.
Some of the most spectacular courtly objects
are Thibaws royal regalia, integral to court
etiquette and major ceremonies. During
Thibaws reign these consisted of 35 gold
objects, each allocated a place on the left or
right side of the throne. Objects included betel
bowls and containers, flower caskets, goblets
and covers. In 1964 following extensive
negotiations the British Government returned
the royal regalia to General Ne Win with
the Burmese government gifting one object,
a magnificent betel container in the shape
of a mythical bird, to the V&A as thanks for
keeping the royal regalia safe.
While the objects themselves readily
demonstrate the skill of Burmese artisans
and the extensive use of gold, gems, silk and
other luxury materials, they were much more
than decorative items. Each object served
a specific purpose and the materials used

were prescribed by sumptuary laws. Written

accounts of court process from the 1600s detail
these laws and indicate a sophisticated etiquette
of behaviour was in place. The British diplomat
and army officer, Michael Symes, published
a comprehensive account of his Burmese
experiences while on an official visit to meet the
king of Ava, Bodawpaya, in 1795 and quickly
appreciated the importance of such laws:
It has already been noticed, that almost every
article of use, as well as ornament, particularly
in their dress, indicates the rank of the owner;
the shape of the beetle-box, which is carried
by an attendant after a Birman [sic] of
distinction wherever he goes, his earrings, cap
of ceremony, horse furniture, even the metal
of his spitting-pot and drinking-cup are made
(which, if of gold, denote him to be a man of
high consideration), all are indicative of the
gradations of society; and woe be unto him that
assumes the insignia of a degree which is not
his legitimate right. (Symes 1800: 310)
The kings regalia can be considered the most
significant courtly objects, potent symbols of
kingship. The Royal Orders of Burma include
reference to various kings regalia since 1598 and
while there is some consistency, it is clear that
many objects changed over time. For example,
while Thibaws display comprised 35 objects,
the Royal Orders for Alaungpaya (r.1752-60)
list 26. There are some fanciful notions about
the origins of the royal regalia, those of Thibaw
being either a gift from a friendly king or
a captured thing from an enemy king or an
heirloom handed down from Mahasamada the
first king on earth. (Than Tun 1985).
There is a long history of Burmese kings
associating themselves with great rulers of
the past and creating things anew, and there

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

KING THIBAW ALBUM C. 1900, JOHANNES & CO.

(PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO), MANDALAY, BURMA (MYANMAR),

Betel box and stand, Mandalay, Burma 1850-75, filigree work in gold on a gold ground, outlined with bands of rubies

ALBUMEN SILVER PHOTOGRAPH, 15.0 X 10.0 CM,

and imitation emeralds, with some embossing; eyes of rubies, 41.5 cm (H), 35.5 cm (L), 18 cm (W). Given by the Government of

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

Burma, pp H.E. U. Hla Manly, Ambassador of Burma, London Victoria and Albert Museum, London

have been few material objects of power

that can reliably be confirmed as heirlooms
passed down to successive monarchs. This
is related in part to notions of Buddhism and
karma. For new kings, especially those who
have overthrown a ruler, reusing royal regalia
could be seen as a portent for suffering the
same fate as the king just deposed. Hence
new regalia were sometimes commissioned
to distance the owner from the past, free from
any negative associations. This behaviour is
also seen when new rulers established their
own capital city, something that has happened
regularly in Burmas history.
All courtly goods can be viewed as the
accoutrements of kings and their entourage.
From costume through to furniture, each
object served a functional purpose, and
supported the legitimacy of the king and his
court. The royal regalia were described and
illustrated in great detail in manuscripts.
Likewise, manuscripts outlined allowed
possessions and the types of materials which
could be used for differing ranks. Thibaws
tax records of 1882 indicate allowances were
paid to carvers, needle workers, gold-lace
weavers, jewellers, sequin makers, royal
weavers and embroiderers, to name a few
of the craftspeople required to satisfy courtordered demand for sumptuary goods (U
Tin 1931: 621-23). The privileges described
for various ranks at court ranged from the
number of fringes on a sash, the types of
official cap robes and earrings, through to the
form of horse trappings. There were five types
of official litters, four types of state barges and
two types of elephant trappings (U Tin: 45872). All aspects of courtly life were subject to
ritual and ceremony.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Today, while only a small part remains of the

Burmese courtly collections, our appreciation
of Burmas royal patronage is still seen
through the many temples that were built and
renewed in their names. For while the rulers
and their capitals changed, and royal regalia
often made anew, the countrys Buddhist
traditions have been a constant. It has been
the duty of kings to uphold Buddhism and
this was most often done by directing their
patronage to significant public Buddhist
sites such as the Shwedagon and Mahamuni
pagodas. It is here, rather than in conventional
notions of royal collections, that the legacies
of Burmese kings have endured.

REFERENCES
Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. 1994. Burmese Crafts past and Present, Kuala
Lumpur: Oxford University Press, pp99-100
Symes, Michael. 1800. An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom
of Ava in the Year 1795, London: Bulmer and Co. Reprint 1995
New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
Than Tun. 1985. The Royal Orders of Burma, A.D. 1598-1885,
Kyoto: The Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University,
part 3, A.D 1751-1781 pp.x-xii
U Tin. The Royal Administration of Burma (first published 1931),
translated by Euan Bagshawe, Bangkok: Ava Publishing House
2001, pp.621-23
Varthema, Ludovico di. The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema in
Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and
Ethiopia, A.D. 15031508. Translated by John W. Jones. Edited by
George P. Badger. Hakluyt Society Publications, 1st ser., no. 32.
1863. Reprint. New York: Burt Franklin, n.d, pp.219-220.
For a complete list see http://www.myanmars.net/myanmar-

Charlotte Galloway is a Lecturer in Asian Art History

museum/myanmar-royal-regelia3.htm

and Curatorial Studies in the Centre for Art History

and Art Theory at the Australian National University.
Her specialist research area is the art of Burma.

11

T H E RO Y AL C OLL E C TIO N S I N C IR E B O N , I N DO N E S IA : A LI V I N G TRADITIO N

Joanna Barrkman
Interior walls of the Sunan Gunungjati royal cemetery, Cirebon, lined with Chinese,
Japanese and European trade ceramics. Photo: Joanna Barrkman, 2013

he royal collections of Cirebon

demonstrate the impact of royal
aristocrats on Cirebons material culture,
evident when considering specific sites
connected with Cirebons royal courts, keraton,
and in relation to art forms associated with the
courts, such as batik textiles and pewayangan,
shadow theatre imagery. Ceribon has been a
bustling international trading port, as well as
a distinguished centre of Islamic religion in
Java, for centuries. These influences have met
to configure a distinctive and unique material
culture, which is primarily articulated through
the lens of the courts and their collections.
A venerated site of pilgrimage, the royal
cemetery (makam) of Cirebon is named after
Sunan Gunungjati (14791568), the founder
of the Cirebon kingdom on the north coast
of Java and the Javanese Sultanate of Banten.
Sunan Gunungjati is revered as one of
the Wali Songo or nine apostles saints of
Javanese Islam.
While visiting the royal makam of Sunan
Gunungjati in November 2013 on the day of
Nadran festivities, the makam was filled with
chanting Muslim worshippers and pilgrims
indicating the significance of the site itself and
the continued respect for the forbears of Cirebon
and Islam. This is an annual ceremony when
offerings are made by local fishermen to the
rivers leading to the Cirebon Harbour in order
to seek safety and fecundity from the sea in the
coming year. Entering the makam reveals rows
of graves adorned with carved headstones and
the occasional intricate wooden grave-marker
bearing Javanese and Arabic script, representing
20 generations of the royal lineages of Cirebon
(Yayasan Keraton Kesephuan 2004:10).
A striking visual feature of the makam is
its walls, adorned with Chinese, Japanese,
Arabic and European ceramics. Rows of
hand-painted 18th century Dutch tiles line
the walls, together with repeated circular
arrangements of hand-painted glazed dishes
and plates featuring stenciled motifs. Due to
maritime links between Cirebon, India and
China for over 2000 years, the pesisir shores
of north Java were graced with valuable trade
ceramics that symbolised wealth and prestige
among the Javanese elite (Miksic 2005: 122-3).
This collection of Ming ceramics at the Sunan
Gunungjati makam reinforces the view that a
Chinese Muslim community was established
in Cirebon by the early 15th century (Miksic

12

2005: 127). Its continued presence is evidenced

by a dedicated space within the makam for
local Chinese Muslim worshippers.
Indeed the marriage of Sunan Gunungjati
to Princess Ong Tien, the daughter of a
Chinese Emperor, strengthened ties between
Cirebon and Chinese traders and fostered
the development of the impressive ceramic
collection held by the sultanate. According
to local accounts provided by an attendant at
the makam, Princess Ong Tien instructed that
the palaces ceramics be encased in plastered
walls to ensure the continued preservation of
the ceramic collection. Whether true or not, this
action has ensured the unique decoration of the
Cirebon royal cemetery and ongoing access by
the people of Cirebon, irrespective of class or
social position, to this royal ceramic collection.
The trend was later adopted at the palaces
in Cirebon, all of which feature wall surfaces
highly decorated with ornate ceramics.
Several magnificent Chinese stoneware
storage jars (guci) are permanently installed at
the makam and contain water that flows from
an onsite natural spring, whose water is used
by pilgrims following worship. One of the
guci features relief designs of phoenixes and
birds around the shoulder beneath a series
of sturdy lugs. Probably dated to the 18th
century, the surfaces of the guci are adorned
with floating abstracted cloud-like motifs,
known in Cirebon as megamendung.
Influences from trade ceramics were also
adapted into local Cirebon batik designs.

While the phoenix motif has been widely

incorporated into coastal, pesisiran batik designs
in towns such as Indramayu, Bayanumas and
Pekolongan, the megamendung motif, which
classically consists of nine gradated shades
of colour from white to red, remains one of
the most identifiable batik motifs worn by
attendants (abdi dalam) at the four Cirebon
keraton and now also in the wider community.
Keraton Kesepuhan, established in the 15th
century, is the oldest of the four keraton in
Cirebon. Due to internal disputes Keraton
Kanoman and Keraton Keprabonan were
formed in 1677 and then Keraton Keceribonan
in 1807. These keraton are all located within the
city of Cirebon and although they no longer
govern the region they still exert significant
influence in the wider community. Keraton
batik is a widely used term in Cirebon and
refers to batik motifs that remain the purview
of royal family members and the abdi dalam.
Traditionally, keraton batik was created in
Trusmi, an outlying area of Cirebon.
Jarit batik lengths often feature three layers
of iconography, alluding to the concept of
the three worlds: the lower underworld,
the mundane world and the heavenly
realms. Architectural features of the Keraton
Kesepuhan, such as the red brick gapura or
gateways, the pleasure gardens and volcanic
rockeries are depicted in keraton batik.
Mythical animals based on syncretic Cirebon
iconography known as the singa barong, part
elephant, part serpent and part eagle, reflect

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

A young puppeteer with shadow puppets from

Storage jar (guci), 18th century, stoneware containing

the Keraton Keceribonan collection. His shirt

holy water at the Sunan Gunungjati royal cemetery. Photo:

features the Cirebon megamendung pattern.

Joanna Barrkman, 2013

Photo: Joanna Barrkman, 2013

performances, such as royal weddings and

official ceremonies. To ensure care and
preservation, the trunk is opened on a monthly
basis, every Jumat Liwon, one of the five days
identified by the Javanese calendar known as
Pasaran. The puppets are carefully taken out
and hung across the width of the room from
morning to evening. This process has ensured
that the collection has remained free of pests
and mould for almost a century in the tropical
climate of Javas north coast.

Bagal Bentung. This encounter is played out

until Bagal Bentung yells Youre wearing
your sumping (ear decoration) back-to-front!
Betara Guru busily adjusts his ear decoration
as he departs the drama, a metaphor for his
inability to listen to the ordinary people. This
tale encapsulates an important point about
Cirebon courtly pewayanagan. The Hindu
gods are depicted as being removed from
the populace and unconcerned with their
wellbeing, in contrast to the presented position
of Islam as advocating egalitarianism and
enshrining active concern for the wellbeing of
ones neighbours and community.

the respective influences of India, China and

Arabia. This mythical animal was originally
created as a royal pusaka (heirloom) carriage,
also colloquially referred to as singa barong,
made in 1549 for the Sultan Kesepuhan and
documented as: Perhaps one of the most
spectacular of royal heirlooms still owned by
an Islamic court (Bennett 2005: 52). Here,
a protective trident is wielded by the trunk
of the singa barong, itself protected by the
golden umbrella, songsong kuning, symbolic of
nobility. Such imagery continues to feature on
courtly keraton batiks.
Another distinctive feature on batik keraton
in Ceribon is the wadasan motif. A depiction of
the volcanic rock formations used to create the
pleasure gardens of the Keraton Kesepuhan, the
wadasan design is produced using curved linear
gradation of colour and is stylistically related
to the megamendung motif. Within the rock
formations are indications of miniature caves.
The cave image suggests a gapura, symbolic
of Javanese places of retreat for meditation
and asceticism, and implies that the palace is a
mystical place where the ruler, through practicing
austerities, acquires exceptional spiritual powers
(Miksic 2005: 126). The wadasan design, like the
megamendung pattern, has been adopted as an
icon of Cirebon and is used to decorate royal
batik keraton, palace entranceways, the singa
barong carriage, glass paintings, grave-markers
and wayang kulit puppets.
The wadasan batik motif is one of several
distinctive features appearing on the royal
wayang kulit collection at the Keraton
Keceribonan. Often embellishing the base of
the puppet, the wadasan pattern is painted in
red, white and blue, using gradated lines of
colour in keeping with batik textile design.
This painting style featuring coloured linear
bands is also adapted for use on puppets
including the depiction of the fire puppet, api
wayang kulit, whereby red, pink and crimson
flames are painted on leather. Another link
between Cirebon batik and shadow puppets
is the inclusion of the elephant, serpent
and eagle motifs as depicted on the tree
of life, kekayonan puppet used to mark the
commencement, scene changes and end of
shadow theatre performances.
The Keraton Keceribonan royal collection
includes furniture, batiks, trade ceramics,
weapons, coins and documents, as well as
over 260 wayang kulit puppets, made from
buffalo and cow leather with guide-sticks
crafted from horn and wood. Known as the
Kotak Angon collection, the puppets are stored
in a large wooden trunk inside the keraton.
It remains a working collection, used on
occasions befitting shadow theatre pewayangan

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Wayang kulit are used to perform the Mahabarata

and Ramayana, Hindu classics which have
been adapted by Wali distinguished Muslim
leaders to reflect Islamic values and faith. One
example of this adaptation is the panakawan,
clown servant, repertoire which in Balinese
and Javanese shadow theatre features four
panakawan: Semar/Twalen, Merdah/Werdah,
Gareng and Petruk. In Cirebon, however, the
pewayangan theatre includes nine characters:
Semar (also known as Curis), Bita Rota, Duala,
Bagong, Cunkring, Ceblok, Bagal Buntung,
Sekar Pandang and Gareng. The use of nine
panakawan characters has been interpreted by
local scholars as a reflection of the nine Wali
Songo (Mr Bambang Irianto, Cirebon, pers
comm, 15 November 2013). The panakawan
perform the role of translating the words,
thoughts and deeds of the aristocratic ksatriya
characters into everyday colloquial language,
making the action accessible to the audience.

These examples of wayang kulit puppets, batik

and ceramics drawn from the royal collections
of Cirebon all share the features of being
associated with living traditions from the use
of trade ceramics as decorative devices and as
containers for holy water used in purification
ceremonies, to keraton batik worn as courtly
regal attire, and wayang kulit used to enact
ancient dramas now infused with Islamic
values for entertainment at royal occasions.
In these contexts the significance of these
artworks continues to unfold as they remain
central to the activities of both the court and
members of the wider Cirebon community.
Joanna Barrkman is an independent curator, currently
contracted to the National Gallery of Australia and
the Fowler Museum, UCLA. She is co-curator, with
Roy W. Hamilton, of the exhibition Textiles of Timor:

Another adaptation that has occurred in royal

Cirebon shadow theatre is the recasting
of Hindu characters from the classical texts
as negative rather than positive forces.
The character of Batara Guru, customarily
represented as the all-knowing god who
embodies the radiant spiritual force of man
is reinvented here as a negative, arrogant
character. When the lame and disfigured
panakawan, Bagal Bentung, asks Betara Guru
Whose child am I? Whose responsibility
am I? Betara Guru consistently replies You
are the son of Semar! No I am not! replies

Island of the Woven Sea, opening in Los Angeles on

7 September 2014. She is a PhD candidate at the
Australian National University.

REFERENCES
Yayasan Keraton Cirebon, 2004. Mengenal Kasultanana
Kasepuhan, Cirebon West Java, Yayasan Keraton Cirebon.
Miksic, John, N. The art of Cirebon and the image of the ascetic
in early Javanese Islam in Bennett, J. (ed.) 2005. Crescent Moon.
Islamic Art & Civilisation in Southeast Asia, Art Gallery of South
Australia, Adelaide, pp. 122138.
Bennett, James Islamic Art and Civilisation in Southeast Asia in
Bennett, J. (ed.) 2005. Crescent Moon. Islamic Art & Civilisation in
Southeast Asia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, pp. 1891.

13

T H E Q U E E N S IRI K IT M U S E U M O F T E X TIL E S , B A N G K O K
Piyanan (Poom) Petcharaburanin
Exterior view of the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles

pened to the public on 9 May 2012,

the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles
(QSMT) is the gift of Her Majesty Queen
Sirikit and the Foundation for the Promotion
of Supplementary Occupations and Related
Techniques (SUPPORT Foundation) to the
people of Thailand.

It all started in 1970, when His Majesty King

Bhumibol and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit paid
a visit to Na Wa, in Sakon Nakon province in
northeastern Thailand to offer help to victims
of flooding. Realizing that giving supplies
to people was just a stopgap measure, Their
Majesties decided to find the villagers some
form of supplementary income. During the
royal couples visit, Her Majesty noticed the
beautiful ikat (mat mii) skirts, long abandoned
by urban women, worn by local women
and recognised that they were still being
made. As a result, Queen Sirikit decided to
purchase the textiles for her own wardrobe
and encouraged the villagers to weave more
silk. It subsequently occurred to Her Majesty
that hand weaving could provide an income
for these farming families that would be
unaffected by weather conditions.
From this beginning, Her Majesty created
the SUPPORT Foundation in 1976 to further
encourage the production of traditional
Thai handicrafts. Over the past 40 years the
Foundation has expanded to include more
than 100,000 men and women across Thailand

whose sole or supplementary income is

derived from craft traditions including
weaving and embroidery.
To create awareness of the need to promote
and preserve indigenous textiles for future
generations, Her Majesty decided to establish
the Museum, which was initially led by
the late Professor Smitthi Siribhadra, Her
Majestys senior adviser on artistic affairs. The
Museums objectives, set by Her Majesty, are
being achieved by staff, guided by Her Royal
Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn,
the Museums patron.
Housed within the grounds of the Grand
Palace, the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles
was officially opened by Her Royal Highness
on 26 April 2012. The Italianate building was

constructed in 1870 during the reign of King

Rama V on the site of a single-story army
barracks built in the early Rattanakosin period
(1782 - c. 1810). Named for its original occupant,
the Royal Department of Tax Revenue (later
the Ministry of Finance), the Ratsadakornbhibhathana building was most likely designed
by the Grassi brothers, three Italian architects
working in Bangkok at the time.
The transformation of the former office
building into a textiles museum began in
2003, when Her Majesty asked permission graciously granted by His Majesty the King
- to use the then vacant building to house the
new museum. Over nine years, the building
was completely remodelled: its modern
facilities include a new lobby, fully climatecontrolled galleries and cases, textile-specific

View of the exhibition, For the Love of Her People: Her Majesty Queen Sirikit Creates the SUPPORT Foundation

14

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Entrance to Fashioning Tradition: Queen Sirikit Creates a National Dress for Thailand

storage, an education studio, library, lecture

hall, a gift and bookstore, and Thailands first
dedicated textile conservation laboratory.
The Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles displays
a broad range of textiles and dress. Important
pieces from Her Majestys wardrobe tailored
by both leading Thai and foreign fashion
houses, Pierre Balmain in particular, are one
of the highlights of the Museums holdings.
There is also a collection of older textiles and
clothing from many of the minority groups of
mainland Southeast Asia and a selection of
textiles from various SUPPORT Foundation
projects around the country.
The Museum has four galleries with three
opening exhibitions: Artistry in Silk: The Royal
Style of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit; Fashioning
Tradition: Queen Sirikit Creates a National Dress
for Thailand, and For the Love of Her People: Her
Majesty Queen Sirikit Creates the SUPPORT
Foundation. Artistry in Silk features more
than a dozen designer ensembles made from
handwoven silk and cotton textiles produced
by members of SUPPORT. Fashioning Tradition
tells the story of Her Majestys creation of a
new national dress for Thai women. For the
Love of Her People is a multimedia presentation
on the creation of the SUPPORT Foundation.
All text in the Museum is in Thai and
English. An English catalogue for the first
two exhibitions mentioned above, titled In
Royal Fashion: The Style of Her Majesty Queen
Sirikit of Thailand, is now available, and an
English language version of the publication
to accompany the third exhibition is in press.
Thai language editions of both publications
are available at the Museum.

system can house 10,000-15,000 items. It

is fully climate-controlled to international
standards and all objects are frozen before they
are stored to eradicate possible mould and
insect infestation. The conservation lab is a fullscale facility, with wet-cleaning capacity and
an infrastructure for the treatment, analysis,
exhibition, and storage preparation of the
collection. All of the textiles and garments on
display are exhibited in custom-designed glass
cases. Each case is equipped with individual
monitors providing real-time data on the exact
humidity and temperature inside.
The QSMT fulfils Her Majestys desire that it
serve as both a display space for Thailands
textile traditions and an academic training
facility to enhance the capacity of the region
to preserve its cultural heritage. In support
of this mandate, the Museum held its first
international symposium, Weaving Royal
Traditions through Time: Textiles and Dress at
the Thai Court and Beyond from 6-9 November
2013. Attended by over 200 people from all
over the world, the symposium included
papers from international experts on diverse
topics from conservation of Princess Grace of
Monacos wedding dress to King Rama Vs
collection of Indonesian batik. Australia was
well-represented by speaker Gillian Green
who discussed possible sources of royal
imagery on Thai court textiles.
Piyanan (Poom) Petcharaburanin has worked as an
editor at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles since
2010, responsible for exhibition texts, books and
museum publications. She wrote the Thai version of In
Royal Fashion: The Style of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit
of Thailand, a catalogue which accompanies the two
related museum exhibitions: Artistry in Silk: The Royal

The Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles is

specifically dedicated to educating Thais
in the field of textile conservation and care.
Preservation starts with proper handling and
storage, and the Museum is home to a stateof-the-art textile storage and conservation
laboratory, the first in Thailand. The storage

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Style of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and Fashioning

Tradition: Her Majesty Queen Sirikit Creates a
National Dress for Thailand.
Photographs by Mr. Anak Navaraj and Ms. Ploypailin
Thapepong Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles.

INSIDE BURMA: THE ESSENTIAL

EXPERIENCE
23 October 11 November 2014
Burma is undergoing unprecedented change and
publicity. Archaeologist and TAASA contributor
Dr Bob Hudson is the doyen of Burma guides
and his longstanding annual tour program features
extended stays in medieval Mrauk U (capital of
the lost ancient kingdom of Arakan) and Bagan,
rivalling Angkor Wat as Southeast Asias richest
archaeological precinct. Exciting experiences in
Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and a private cruise
down the mighty Ayeyarwady are also included.
Now is the time to see Burma before development
and 'progress' change it forever.
Land Only cost per person twinshare
ex Yangon $5975

CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT,

PREAH VIHEAR AND BEYOND
27 October 13 November 2014
Angkors timeless grandeur is unmissable. But now
Preah Vihear, the revered mountaintop temple of
immense historical and political significance for
the Khmers, is finally accessible. Yet Cambodia
offers a host of other important cultural and travel
experiences: outstanding ancient,vernacular and
French colonial architecture; spectacular riverine
environments; the ongoing restoration and
revitalisation of Phnom Penh; culinary sensations
and beautiful countryside. Expatriate museologist,
author, Siem Reap resident and TAASA contributor
Darryl Collins and Gill Green, President of TAASA
and author specialising in Cambodian culture have
designed and expertly co-host their longstanding
annual program.
Land Only cost per person twinshare
ex Phnom Penh $5400
To register your interest, reserve a place or for
further information contact Ray Boniface

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N S
N AT U R E B U I L D I N G S P E O P L E T R AV E L L E R S

PO Box U237
University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia
p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129
e: heritagedest@bigpond.com
ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

15

The S h o s o - i n t r e a su r y a r oya l c o l l ec t i o n b ot h ex t r ao r d i n a r y a n d eve r y day

Robyn Maxwell
THE SHOSO-IN, TODAI-JI, NARA CIRCA 756. PHOTO: IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY

ach year for a little over two weeks

from late October to mid-November,
an exhibition of a few dozen items from a
remarkable Japanese royal collection attracts
huge crowds. Londons Art Newspaper
reported that, over the 17 days in late 2012, the
daily average attendance of 14,240 visitors,
almost exclusively domestic Japanese tourists,
made The 64th Annual Exhibition of the Shosoin Treasures at the Nara National Museum the
best attended exhibition worldwide (April
2013). Yet there were no complaints as the
superbly organised but largely self-managed
queue snaked along five abreast for an hour
or so outside the modern concrete replica of
the original timber repository. (In fact Yomiuri
Online provides Japanese visitors with
information and updates on waiting times
). Sheltered from the sometimes inclement
autumn weather under specially erected
canopies, time was whiled away with food
and drink from temporary marquees. And
the wait was richly rewarded: within the
specially built modern hall the small but
broad selection of 64 treasures from one of the
worlds most extraordinary royal collections
of art, household objects, documents and
Buddhist regalia provides a surprisingly vivid
yet poignant insight into palace life in Nara,
Japans 8th-century capital.

The objects in the Shoso-in collection, exemplified

in the range of materials, techniques and types
selected annually, demonstrate the superb levels
of craft skills of the Tempyo or Nara period of
early Japanese history (710794). The collection
also vividly illustrates the internationalism of
the royal court through the variety and quantity
of exotic treasuresincluding ceramics, textiles,
glass, wood, precious metals and paintings
from regions stretching along the busy trading
routes from the Mediterranean Sea, the early
Islamic world, India and Southeast Asia to
China and Korea. However, arguably just as
significant is the window the 8th-century royal
collection opens to the rich sources and varied
forms of inspiration that would quickly be
assimilated into Japanese arts and aesthetics.
Indeed the problems of attribution of origin
to many of the thousands of objects in the
Shoso-in treasury is a testament to how quickly
ideas, motifs, materials and techniques were
exchanged and adopted by cultures along the
Silk Roads, including Japan.

history of Shoso-in collection is fortunately

well documented. During the reign of the
second Tempyo emperor Shomu (r. 724
749) the court actively sent envoys abroad
and was host to a number of international
visitors, including Buddhist teachers. A
devout Buddhist, it was Emperor Shomu who
commissioned the huge Vairocana Buddha
(Daibutsu) for the Todai-ji temple in the
capital Nara in 743. When the emperor, who
had abdicated in 749, died in 756 his grieving
widow the Empress Dowager Komyo
dedicated many of the former emperors
personal and household effectsvarious
articles that he had handled which are in
truth rare national treasures to the Todaiji (Empress Dowager Komyos prayer is

translated in Jiro Harada 1937). The elegantly

written dedication prayer in which Komyo
laments that the sight of the objects causes her
immense grief, and an inventory of the objects
in the gift are among 10,000 documents that
form part of the Shoso-in collection, along
with manuscripts, poems, letters, calligraphic
scrolls, writing implements and storage
boxes. Further donations continued over
the intervening years until the death of the
Empress Dowager in 760.
An important component of the Shoso-in
treasures is of course Buddhist. From many
items of the regalia used in the actual eyeopening ceremony for the Daibustu which
was presided over by an Indian monk, to

Possibly the oldest and undoubtedly the most

intact royal collection still in existence, the
INCENSE BURNER IN THE FORM OF A LOTUS, 8TH CENTURY, LACQUER AND GOLD LEAF ON WOOD, 17.0 X 56.0 CM.
SHOSO-IN COLLECTION. PHOTO: IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY

16

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

PANEL FROM A FOLDING SCREEN, 8TH CENTURY,

STENCIL-DYED SILK, 149.5 X 57.0 CM. SHOSO-IN COLLECTION.

EMPRESS KOMYOS DEDICATION PRAYER, KOKKA CHIMPO-CHO, JAPAN, 756, SCROLL,

PHOTO: IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY

INK ON PAPER, WIDTH 25.8 CM. SHOSO-IN COLLECTION. PHOTO: IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY

Amongst the most popular exhibits each year

are spectacular large objects used in palace
pastimes, such as a stringed lute, brilliantly
inlaid with multicoloured mother-of-pearl, or
a gaming boards for go decorated in delicate
marquetry and accompanied by various sets
of tors made of rare and expensive materials.

ordination banners, robes, incense burners,

prayer beads, and implements such as vajra
thunderbolt sceptres used in Buddhist rites,
these gifts from the Empress, as she expressed
in her prayer, were intended to speed her
late husband on his journey to the Western
Paradise. The religious paraphernalia is
suitably grand, conveying a sense of the
spectacle that would have accompanied
Buddhist rites in court and temple. Depicting
mythical creatures and imaginative floral
forms, the intricate polychrome lacquer and
gold ornamentation on each of the lotus petals
encircling a sumptuous large pedestal of an
incense burner typifies this richness.

Crucial to this evolution was the unprecedented

movement and rich exchange of goods,
materials, designs, techniques and philosophies
along what has come to be known as the Silk
Roads across the Asian continent at its most
active and interesting period. In particular,
spectacular Persian and Chinese items feature
prominently in the Shoso-in collection. The
impeccable provenance and fascinating variety
of the imported items in the Shoso-in treasury
makes them an invaluable tool for Silk Road
scholars. The origins of objects of a number
of items in the collections is still a matter of
debate: a silk textile displaying archers and
prey, a popular Sassanian motif, might be
Persian, or a Tang Chinese manifestation, or
indeed a Japanese domestic versionancestor
to the modern nishiki luxury fabricinspired
by either Persian, or Chinese imports, or both.

Today, the items stored in the Shoso-in provide

a rich visual account of seasonal daily activities
and recurring state ceremony. The palace
household effects range from storage cabinets,
fine utensils, elaborate vessels and containers,
soft furnishings and textiles, painted screens
and musical instruments to personal articles
of clothing and ornamentation, and decorated
weapons. Invariably exquisitely crafted and
in generally superb condition, the legacy is
remarkable for the insights it provides into
the development of Japanese arts and crafts.

The 8th century was a vibrant period of

internationalism not only in Nara, but at other
major centres along the trade routes and the
transmission and adoption of images and
techniques led to a fluorescence in the arts
of many cultures. Situated at the far eastern
extremity, the Japanese court was uniquely
placed to enjoy the Shoso-in collection. Each
year the Shoso-in exhibition includes both
Japanese and imported works, in a wide range
of media and function, and covering overtly
Buddhist and Imperial regalia, alongside

charming everyday, albeit gorgeous, articles

belonging to members of the royal household.
Not only are the Shoso-in treasures astonishing
in terms of their quality, quantity and
variety: the fact that they have survived for
over a millennium in a wooden building in
earthquake-prone and war-ravaged Japan
where fires have destroyed many important
buildings and their exquisite contents is
exceptional. Indeed the name Shoso-in was
once not specific to the starkly simple 33
metre-long Japanese cypress structure in the
grounds of the Todai-ji templein the past
many storehouses [shoso] were erected in the
precincts [in] of temples and government
buildings. Today the term denotes the one
surviving example. While the remarkable
royal collection has now been moved to safer
fire-proof conditions in Nara and, in the case of
many of the textiles, to the National Museum
in Tokyo, inspecting the exterior of the original
repository is an essential part of the experience
of visitors to the annual exhibition of the royal
treasures Shoso-in.
Robyn Maxwell is Senior Curator of Asian art at the
National Gallery of Australia.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

REFERENCES
Visitor figures 2102: Exhibition & museum attendance survey,
The Art Newspaper, No 245, April 2013
The Shoso-in, or Imperial Repository at Nara in Jiro Harada,
Glimpse of Japanese ideals: lectures on Japanese art and culture,
Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, Tokyo, 1937
Ryoichi Hayashi, The Silk Road and the Shoso-in, Weatherhill, New
York, 1975
Kaneo Matsumoto, Jodai-gire : 7th and 8th century textiles in Japan
from the Shoso-in and Horyu-ji, Shikosha, Kyoto, 1984
Shosoin Office, Treasures of the Shosoin, Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, 1965

17

T H E H O F F OTO G RAA F : P ORTRAIT P H OTO G RA P H E R TO i n d o nes i a n RO Y ALT Y

Gael Newton
JAVANESE PRINCE, SON OF THE REGENT OF BANDUNG IN BRIDEGROOMS DRESS C.1865, ISIDORE VAN KINSBERGEN,
ALBUMEN SILVER PHOTOGRAPH, 13.5 X 18 CM. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

he first portrait studios in the world

were opened in London in 1841 and
Prince Albert - ever the enthusiast for
new technology - became one of the first
Royals to be photographed when he sat
to daguerreotypist William Constable in
Brighton in 1842. His likeness was a private
affair, daguerreotypes were one-off items with
limited mass market potential. Photographs
were, however, increasingly used to lend
authenticity to drawn illustrations in
newspapers and journals. By the late 1850s
from a photograph became a featured byline of portraits in books and illustrated
papers such as The Illustrated London News.

What made the most difference to the

commercialisation of photography from the
1860s was the world-wide craze for collecting
celebrity portraits and exotic types, made
possible by the availability of cheap portraits
on paper. In an Imperialist era, the popularity
of images of exotic royals in colonial domains
encouraged travelling photographers or those
in foreign ports, to add these images to their
inventory.
In 1859 French photographer AAE Disderi
marketed portraits of Louis Napoleon III in
the new miniature calling card sized carte de
visite (cdv) format he had introduced in 1854,
and in 1860 John Mayall marketed a set of cdv
portraits of the British Royal Family in a special
album that sold in hundreds of thousands
all over the anglophile world. Practitioners
of the new vocation of daguerreian artist,
photographist and finally photographer
were quick to apply By Royal Appointment
to their products as soon as a royal client
patronised their services. A lucky few could
be listed at the higher rank of royal or court
photographer if they photographed the
reigning royal family and entourage. The
concept of the royal or court photographer,
the hoffotograaf in Dutch and hofphotograph
in German, followed naturally throughout
Europe from established traditions of the
favoured royal portrait artist.
Stationers across Asia followed suit by selling
imported images of European royalty, and
studios sought By Royal Appointment
status via the patronage of local vice regal
representatives or, more rarely, via visiting
European royalty by presenting them with
albums of local views and personalities.
An early visitor was the Duc de Penthivre,

18

grandson of the French King Louis Philippe

exiled in England, whose 186668 world tour
was made into a long running bestseller Voyage
autour du monde (1868) by his childhood friend
and official companion Ludovic, Marquis
(later Comte) de Beauvoir. The pair visited
Java for a week in early December 1866 and de
Beauvoir collected locally made photographs,
including portraits of Javanese and Balinese
princes by Isidore van Kinsbergen.
The exchange of painted portraits between
European royals and Asian monarchs was
an established protocol by the 18th century
and this practise was promptly transferred
to the new though less flattering, medium of
photography in the 1850s. A number of Indian

princes and maharajas posed for and also

took photographs from the 1850s. Chinese
and Japanese emperors were not early
enthusiasts for photography, although other
elite aristocrats and officials in both countries
were early experimenters.
The Thai King Mongkut (Rama IV) was the
earliest and most assiduous of monarchical
enthusiasts for the medium in Asia. He
had the French bishop in Bangkok import a
daguerreotype camera in 1847 and one of
the Bishops priests learned to operate it.
King Mongkut received another instrument
from Queen Victoria in 1850 and actively
sought to have his own relatives trained in
photography. His brother Vice-King Pinklao

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

MALE COURT DANCERS, YOGYAKARTA KRATON C.1885, KASSIAN CPHAS, ALBUMEN SILVER PHOTOGRAPH, 9.4 X 13.6 CM.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

and several courtiers, become adept over the

next decades through training and observing
foreign photographers at work.
In November 1857 Queen Victoria received
a daguerreotype portrait of Mongkut now
attributed to the Thai court photographer
Luang Wisut Yothamather. Being photographed
was a political performance the King well
understood. He also sent a daguerreotype
portrait of himself and Queen Debsirindra to
President Franklin Pierce in 1856 as part of an
exchange of gifts honouring the 1856 Harris
Thai-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce.
Both portraits survive as the earliest extant
photographic portraits of an Asian, indeed of
any, reigning monarch. Mongkut sent similar
portraits to Pope Pius IX and Napoleon III.
Mongkuts son and heir, King Chulalongkorn
(Rama V) continued the interest and took up the
camera personally, a practise continued by the
present day King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama
IX) (Morris (ed) 2009).
The earliest portrait photographer known
to arrive in the former Dutch East Indies
was Adolph Schaefer (c. 1820-73) in 1844.
A German professional daguerreotypist
working in The Hague, Schaefer had learned
that medical officer Juriaan Munnich in
Jakarta had failed in his 1841 Dutch Ministry
of Colonies commission to test out the
heliographic apparatus in the tropics with
a primary aim of securing daguerreotypes
of Javanese antiquities and the Buddhist
monument Borobudur.
Soon after his arrival in Jakarta, Schaefer
succeeded in adjusting chemistry to tropical
conditions and was offering the elite of Batavia
the new art of daguerreotype likenesses. The
following year he made views of the reliefs at
Borobudur, over 50 of which are held in the
Prentenkabinet at Leiden University Library
(Wachlin 2007: 739-741).
None of his portraits are known to survive
but Schaefer may have been the maker of a
daguerreotype that appears to be the basis for
an 1853 coloured lithograph Een Javaschen
prins Un prince Javanais (believed to be
Hamengkubuwono V r. 1820 1855) by
Jakarta-based artist Auguste van Pers (18151871). The image appears in the first part of the
56-plate Nederlandisch Oost-Indische typen series
published by subscription in The Hague by
lithographer CW Mieling from 185362. This
huge undertaking includes a few plates that are
startling in their realism and the look-to-camera
expression of those posing for a photographer.
A stream of itinerant daguerreotypists passed
through the Indies in the 1850s; it is not

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

known if any sought or gained access to royal

clients. Swedish itinerant daguerreotypist
and photographist Cesar Dben (18191888)
reported on his visit to take photographs at the
Kraton in Yogyakarta in January 1858 that he had
photographed the family of Hamengkubuwono
VI (r. 1855 to 1877). The Javanese princesses
featured in one of the 15 lithographs based on
his photographs in Dbens 1886 memoir may
have been from Yogyakarta. Dben seems not
to have been granted a sitting by the Sultan
himself but responded to his request to instruct
a court member in the photographic process
and presented his camera to the Sultan as a
parting gift.
The Hamengkubuwono royal family at
Yogyakarta appears to be first in Indonesia to be
photographed and to have had their own official
photographers in the 1860s. No daguerreotype
images are extant but the new wet-plate
photography on paper introduced in 1851 in
England, which replaced the daguerreotype
by the 1870s, greatly facilitated the circulation
of images made off glass negatives. The young
English photographers Walter B Woodbury
(18341885) and James Page (18331865) of the
Woodbury & Page atelier set up in Jakarta in
1857 after their not very successful Australian
colonial ventures. Walter Woodbury had
been acknowledged as the best glass artist in
Melbourne in 1854 by his employer, the skilled
American daguerreotypist PM Batchelder.
Upon their arrival Woodbury and Page
determined that there was European interest
in images of antiquities and the inhabitants of
Princes Land in central Java. The duo made
their first field trip to Yogyakarta and Surakarta
in 1858 and marketed their first images of
Indonesia in England in 1859. These were

published later in 1861 by Negretii & Zambra

as expensive albumen on glass stereographs
and again as richly coloured lantern slides in the
1860s by Newton & Co using the woodburytype
process patented by Walter Woodbury in 1864.
Illustrations after the first series were published
in The Illustrated London News, 31 July 1861 and
included Javanese aristocrats, court dancers
and musicians. Walter is also most likely the
maker of two half plate ambrotype portraits of
Hamengkubuwono VI and his principal wife
produced around 1858.
In 1879 under their successor, Walters younger
brother Albert Woodbury, Woodbury & Page
studio acquired a By Royal Appointment
status to the Dutch Crown. Their inventory
listed numerous royal portraits, although
none are named and pictures of sultans
are lumped in with native types. What
the sultans thought of this presumably
demeaning hawking of their images around
the world is not known. As in British India,
the Sultans and Rajas of the Dutch East Indies
were never granted the status of monarchs.
Woodbury & Page were not the only
photographers active in Indonesia in the 1850s
and 60s. The Flemish-Dutch theatre performer
and artist Isidore van Kinsbergen (18211905)
began work in Jakarta in the mid 1850s with
French photographer AF Lecouteux (Asser et
al 2006). Van Kinsbergen was favoured by the
new Dutch Colonial Governor-General, Baron
Sloet van der Beele and accompanied him on his
186365 tours of the residential districts of Java,
Madura and Bali, and the four independent royal
territories. By the mid 1860s, van Kinsbergen
had an impressive repertoire of Javanese
native types and royal portraits in which the
models have a strong presence as individuals.

19

JAVANESE PRINCE, SON OF THE REGENT OF BANDUNG IN BRIDEGROOMS

DRESS C.1865, ISIDORE VAN KINSBERGEN, ALBUMEN SILVER PHOTOGRAPH 13.5 X 18 CM.

Djokjakarta. Court officials of Paku Alam VII bearing state regalia, c.1925, Tassilo Adam,

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

gelatin silver photograph 21 x 25.2 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

His images were widely distributed, appearing

as woodcuts in a number of European and
American magazines but he does not appear to
have called himself a hoffotograaf.
One of the first to claim the title of a photographer
to the kratons was sergeant major and drawing
master Simon Wilhelm Camerik (18301897). A
Banda-born Dutchman, possibly part Indonesian,
he may have trained in the Netherlands. He was
working in Semarang as a photographer by 1864
and in that year marketed a set of principal
native grandees of Surakarta, Yogyakarta and
Magelang as well as some views of Prambanam
in the Semarang newspaper De Locomotief of 29
August. By 1866 In the Java-Bode of 17 February,
he is listed as Kunstschilder en photograaf van
Z.H. den Sultan van Djocdjacarta (painter and
photographer to the Sultan), an appellation also
stamped on the backs of his cdv portraits of the
vice regal resident Adriaan Jan Hendrik van
der Mijll Dekker. Camerik also photographed
the Surakarta Sultans Pakubwono IX and
Mangkunegara IV and some of the same images
appear among the types marketed by Woodbury
& Page in the miniature carte de visite format.
Camerik ceased work as a photographer
after 1870 but apparently taught Kassian
Cphas (18451912), one of the entourage of
Hamengkubuwono VI and an early member
of the Javanese Christian Church, who became
the first and only indigenous hoffotograaf
in the Indies. Cphas set up his own studio
in his Jakarta home in 1871. By 1875 he
was advertising his services as CPHAS
Photographist photographer to the Sultan,
in De Locomotief of 9 July. He remained closely

20

associated with the Kraton and in particular

worked with the Sultans Dutch physician Isaac
Groneman, a dedicated scholar of Javanese
culture and antiquities. Groneman published
several elaborate publications on Javanese
art and dance performance in the 1880s to
early 90s which gave prominent credit to
Hoffotograaf K. Cphas and earned Cphas
honorary membership of local and Dutch
societies. Cphas was routinely described as the
hoffotograaf Cphas in newspapers and returned
to duties at the Yogyakarta kraton after 1904 as
his son Sem took over the Cphas studio.

As recent scholarship has shown, King

Mongkut and his descendants in Thailand
became adept at strategic diplomatic and
media management using gifts of official state
and family portraits. Susie Protschky (2012)
and other researchers have demonstrated that
the sultans of Indonesia, several of whom
became amateur photographers in their own
right, were similarly adept. Only Hoffotograaf
Cphas, however, filled the comparable
continuous and active service of the European
model royal photographer.
Gael Newton is Senior Curator, Photography at the

By the early 20th century, foreign photographers

undertook the lesser role of By royal
appointment- meaning supplier of goods and
services. Such status (to the Dutch Crown)
appeared on prints by the Surabaya studio of
Armenian photographer Ohannes Kurkdjian
(18511903) following presentation of his
album of the local celebrations for Dutch Queen
Wilhelmina Is coronation in 1898, and was
retained until the studios closure in 1936. One
who did work for the four principalities in
the 1920s was German Italian ethnographic
photographer Tassilo Adam (18781955).
Adam worked extensively with the Sultans at
Yogyakarta and Surakarta to make detailed
records of dance and musical performances
in the mid 1920s. Although not claiming the
hoffotograaf title, Tassilo Adam combined
the role of favoured court photographer with
that of dedicated scholar. A number of his royal
portraits are held in the National Gallery of
Australias Indonesian photographs collection
and a unique set of his personal albums was
recently acquired by the Gallery.

National Gallery of Australia, who has developed its

collections of Asia-Pacific photography, particularly
from Indonesia. This was boosted in 2006 by the
acquisition of the collection of Amsterdam rare
book and print dealer, Leo Haks and is showcased
in the Gallerys 2004 exhibition Garden of the East:
photographs

from

Indonesia

1850s-1940s,

21

February 22 June. A weekend of talks and tours will

be held 14-15 June, see www.nga.gov.au/gardeneast.

REFERENCES
Asser, Saskia E., Wachlin, Steven, Theuns-de Boer, Gerda, 2006.
Isidore van Kinsbergen, 1821-1905: Photo Pioneer and Theatre
Maker in the Dutch East Indies. KITLV Press, Leiden
Morris, R.C. (ed) 2009. Photographies East: The Camera and
Its Histories in East and Southeast Asia, Duke University Press,
Durham, NC.
Protschky, Susie. Negotiating princely status through the
photographic gift: Paku Alam VIIs family album for Crown Princess
Juliana of the Netherlands, 1937, Indonesia and the Malay World,
40:118 (2012): 298-314.
Steven Wachlin, Indonesia (Netherlands, East Indies) in John
Hannavy (ed) Encyclopaedia of nineteenth-century photography,
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York London, 2007, vol 1.
pp. 739-741.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

21

M OD E S T C O N N OI S S E U R : I N DO N E S IA N T E X TIL E S I N T H E LI V E S
O F J O H N Y U & G E OR G E S O U TT E R
Siobhan Campbell

LOIN/SHOULDER CLOTH (SELENDANG), SAVU, 60X154 CM,

WOMANS SARONG (TAIS FETO), BELU, WEST TIMOR, MID-

1970S, COTTON, NATURAL DYES. PHOTO: TIM CONNOLLY

20TH C, COTTON, DYES, 59X135 CM. PHOTO: TIM CONNOLLY

o fellow members of the TAASA

community, Dr John Yu requires very
little introduction. As well as an illustrious
professional career devoted to childrens
medicine, he has distinguished himself with
a serious commitment to the arts of Southeast
Asia. A selection of Indonesian textiles from
the personal collection of Dr John Yu and Dr
George Soutter are the focus of an exhibition
at Mosman Art Gallery in Sydney from 3 May
to 13 July 2014.

Anyone who has had the privilege of visiting

the home of Dr John Yu and the late Dr George
Soutter will appreciate the place of Southeast
Asian art in their lives. Not only are collected
objects displayed throughout the house, the
bookshelves are filled with catalogues and
reference books while recorded gamelan
music and incense hint at attempts to recreate
the settings in which many of these objects
originated. Unlike the ceramics, bronzes,
woodcarvings and sculptures on permanent
display around the house, the extent of
their Indonesian textile collection is not
immediately apparent to the casual gaze of a
visitor. After all, there is a limit to the number
of lengths of fabric that a domestic space can
accommodate, so hundreds of textiles are
inevitably folded, rolled and packed away in
chests of drawers and crates. The process of
unpacking these pieces and selecting the 50
works to exhibit was guided by John Yu and
intended as a reflection of his predilections,
knowledge and tastes as a collector.
Importantly, while the couples generosity
has ensured that many pieces have made
their way into public collections, including
the Art Gallery of New South Wales and
the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, this
exhibition distinguishes between individual
and institutional collecting by emphasising
the shared passion of the couple and the way
the collection evolved during their lifetime
together. The present contribution is a brief
survey of some key pieces nominated by
John for inclusion in the exhibition, intended
to highlight how his collection might be
understood as a representation of the cultures
that produced these textiles, the places where
they were collected and well as the personal
inclinations of these two collectors.
The story of this textile collection begins
in Sydney during the late 1970s with the
acquisition of a mans warp ikat shoulder or

22

loin cloth (selendang) from art dealer William

Burlace of the former Nomad Gallery near
Hyde Park. It was the apparent simplicity of
the design and the depth of the indigo dye on
this cloth from the island of Savu in Eastern
Indonesia that caught Johns eye. Although
the loin cloth and the shoulder cloth are not
differentiated in Savunese terminology, as
traditional attire for ceremonies a cloth like
this would probably be wrapped around
the neck and shoulders with a second, long
fringed rectangular cloth wrapped around the
hips (Duggan 2001: 53).
The people of Savu belong to one of two
female-origin moieties known as hubi ae,
the greater blossom, and hubi iki, the lesser
blossom, with hubi being the general term
for the blossom of the palm tree. Although
each lineage has its own groups of motifs, the
diamond shape (wo hepi) motif on this cloth is
not linked to either of the female descent lines

and men from both groups are wrapped in a

cloth with this motif for their funeral (2001:55).
The motif itself is said to represent a stylised
fish, which some Savunese believe is the oldest
motif, reminding people of a time before they
had cattle and derived their living from the sea.
In this example the motif is combined with the
white triangle (wo pudi) motif and divided by
a black line through the centre and a band of
three red and orange lines on either side.
Acquiring this initial piece compelled them
to learn more about Indonesian textiles and
shortly after, on the advice of friends, they
visited Bali. Their first visit to the island
developed into an annual trip, giving shape
and focus to their subsequent collecting
activities. By this time Bali had established
itself as the centre of an Indonesia-wide trade
in textiles, bronzes, gold, silver, terracotta,
ceramics and wooden objects servicing both
the domestic and international markets.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

HIP CLOTH (KAMBEN), NORTH BALI, MID-19TH C, HANDSPUN COTTON, NATURAL DYES, GOLD THREAD, 102X170 CM. PHOTO: TIM CONNOLLY

While mass tourism was gaining momentum

in the same period, the types of objects sold
in the antique and art shops in places like
Ubud, Kuta, Sanur, Denpasar and Klungkung
were not generally within the purview of the
average holiday-maker. This was not simply
due to the price of old or unusual pieces but
to the knowledge required to appreciate the
sophistication of some textiles or to purchase
pieces showing visible signs of wear.
A case in point is the assortment of vertical
runners (lamak) they assembled, narrow cloths
which between them showcase most of the
textile techniques practiced in Bali including
embroidery, couching, appliqu, weft ikat,
supplementary weft weaving (songket) and
gold-leaf (prada) decoration. Although the
designs and techniques are determined by
regional and individual style, most cloth lamak
are associated with the districts of Jembrana
and Buleleng in western and northern Bali.
Jembrana is also home to the tradition of
embroidered story cloths described by I Made
Rai Artha in TAASA Review (Volume 19 No. 4
December 2010) which are also embellished in
the same manner as the lamak with sequins,

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

mica, mirrors, gimp, beads, nylon and cotton

fringes.
The more common form of lamak hangings are
ephemeral vertical runners of fresh white and
green palm leaves or coconut palm plaited
or wrapped into geometric patterns inspired
by the natural world, representational motifs
or combinations of the two. They are made as
adornments for altars or shrines or as underlays
for offerings. The top of the hanging lies
horizontally on the shelf of the shrine and serves
as the resting place for offerings, while the lower
decorated portion drapes vertically down the
front of the shrine. As Brinkgreve explains, a
lamak functions as a real base for offerings,
but also, through its decorative function as
carrier of the cosmic motifs, as a symbolic base
for the exchange between the different layers of
the Balinese universe (1993:143).
The stylised female figure (cili) with an
elongated triangular body, long arms and a
fan-shaped headdress appears on many of
the cloth versions of lamak collected by John,
including as a figure appliqud onto a base
of red cotton cloth. The row of small triangles

23

SHRINE HANGING (LAMAK), BALI, MID 20TH C, COTTON CLOTH,

COTTON THREAD, SEQUINS, METALLIC THREAD, 21X120 CM.
PHOTO: TIM CONNOLLY

appearing between the rows of flower petals

underneath her is also common on lamak and
is called the mountain (gunung), relating to
Mount Meru, the centre of the universe. A
separate panel at the bottom has been executed
in supplementary weft weaving (songket)
featuring three courtly figures on mounts. The
cili figure is often associated with Dewi Sri, the
Hindu deity of rice and agriculture, fertility
and prosperity, yet may be understood more
widely as a symbol of both women and men.
This may explain why, on a second example in
a supplementary weft pattern, the two small
cili standing side by side refer to the newly
wed couple (lamak nganten). Although they
have an identical feminine form the one on
the left is meant to be the woman, the right the
man (Brinkgreve 1993: 141). A third example
features a central cili figure holding a parasol
in each hand, while three little rows of triangles
form the bottom half of her skirt. Two smaller
figures, mounted on horses, appear on either
side of the cili.
The latter have much in common with the
many elaborate silk textiles associated with
the Balinese royal courts into which patterns
are woven with supplementary weft threads
(songket), still produced in Balinese villages
including Gelgel and Sidemen. John and George
collected many examples of these, characterised
by their bold colour schemes and sumptuous

24

use of gold leaf, silk and imported dyes. Some

have combinations of songket technique and
endek, where the plain coloured weft is resistdyed, such as in the breast or shoulder cloths
(anteng or cerik) from North Bali.

in the early 20th century brought refugees

to south Belu, including entire villages, who
bought their textile motifs and patterns with
them, explaining similarities in the cloths of
Belu and East Timor.

One of the less-widely seen examples from

the Balinese textile tradition is a rusty-red hip
cloth enriched with metal threads, coarse yarn
and a supplementary weft floral decoration of
blossoms, shrubs and lozenges in the central
panel (fig.4). Cloths like this came to be known
by collectors as kain Sembiran, referring
to the name of a North Balinese village, and
are possibly a rough interpretation of courtly
silk fabrics worked in gold or silver threads.
They are most likely the product of a MuslimBalinese workshop in North Bali (NabholzKartaschoff 2008).

The dazzling colours on this piece, reflecting

the spread of chemical dyes in the 20th
century, are dismissed by some connoisseurs
for their garish palettes and lack of elegance
in contrast to older sarongs (Alpert 2013: 261).
In nominating this treasured piece we can
value the specificity of George and Johns
connoisseurship. Not only is there a sense of
their individual sensibilities with reference to
other collectors, but we can appreciate that as
collectors they were not bound by the same
considerations and constraints that define
institutional collecting strategies. These
qualities are characteristic of the membership
network of the TAASA community at large,
and it is for this reason that this exhibition
celebrates the entwined lives of two collectors
while acknowledging the larger contributions
that private collections make to contesting,
enriching
and
substantiating
current
understandings of Indonesian textile art.

Such professional weaving workshops were

located in villages such as Pengastulan, where
Muslim-Balinese women created designs that
were executed on the loom by Balinese-Hindu
women, and traded through Muslim-Balinese
traders to Buleleng, and probably further.
Nabholz-Kartaschoff (2008: 100) identifies
their most characteristic feature as the coarse
metal thread used as supplementary weft,
made with narrow strips of paper, coated
with gold leaf wrapped around a thick core.
In the second half of the 19th century, when
this textile is likely to have been made, the
highly valued gold threads would have been
imported to Bali through dealers in Singapore.

Encounters with Bali, A Collectors Journey:

Indonesian Textiles from the Collection of Dr
John Yu AC and Dr George Soutter AM will be
exhibited at the Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney,
Saturday 3 May Sunday 13 July 2014.
Siobhan Campbell recently completed her PhD on
the Forge Collection of Balinese Art at the Australian

In common with other collectors of Indonesian

textiles, part of the appeal of assembling a
collection like this is to appreciate the history
of Indonesia as a maritime archipelago.
Even though they regard each piece in
their collection as a compelling work of
art, attributing a sense of identity to the
anonymous artists behind their textiles has
meant recognising the complex geographic
and cultural origins of the pieces.
Their desire to learn more about the
communities who created these textiles grew
over time, if only for the purpose of classifying
their collection, yet this mission was certainly
not an ethnographic one in the conventional
sense. When George purchased a womans
sarong (Tais Feto) about 35 years ago, he was
fascinated by the figures and the patchworklike appearance. These arresting raised
geometric designs are achieved by a process
of winding weft threads around strands of the
warp yarns, a technique known as buna by the
Atoni language groups of West Timor. This
textile comes from Malaka, in the southern
half of Belu regency in West Timor (see Yeager
& Jacobson 2002: 317). Rebellion in East Timor

Museum in Sydney. She is curating this exhibition

with assistance from the Curatorial Support Initiative,
administered by Museum & Galleries NSW on behalf
of the NSW Government.

REFERENCES
Brinkgreve, Francine (1993). The Woven Balinese Lamak
Reconsidered. In Nabholz-Kartaschoff, Barnes and Stuart-Fox
(eds). Weaving Patterns of Life. Indonesian Textile Symposium 1991.
Museum of Ethnography, 135-152, Basel.
Duggan, Genevive (2001). Ikats of Savu: Women Weaving History
in Eastern Indonesia. White Lotus Press, Bangkok.
Nabholz-Kartaschoff, Marie-Louise (2008) The Textiles of
Sembiran. In Burials, Texts and Rituals: Ethnoarchaeological
Investigations in North Bali, Indonesia. Hauser-Schublin, & Ardika
(eds). Universitatsverlag Gottingen, Gottingen, 69-117.
Schefold, Reimar in collaboration with Alpert, Steven G. (2013).
Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the
Dallas Museum of Art. Dallas Museum of Art Publications, Yale
University Press, New Haven.
Yeager, Ruth Marie & Jacobson, Mark Ivan (2002). Textiles of
Western Timor: Regional Variations in Historical Perspective.
White Lotus Press, Bangkok.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

25

RO Y AL ART I N T H E C OLL E C TIO N O F T H E N ATIO N AL G ALL E R Y O F A U S TRALIA

L'OISEAU DANS L'ESPACE [BIRD IN SPACE] C.1931 36,

Melanie Eastburn

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI, FRANCE. BLACK MARBLE, WHITE MARBLE,

LIMESTONE, SANDSTONE, 184.0 X 44.0 CM; 193.3 X 51.4 CM.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

mong the many treasures of the National

Gallery of Australia (NGA) are some
exceptional works of art that were once held in
royal collections in Thailand, India, Indonesia,
Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Although acquired
for their quality and aesthetic appeal rather
than the nobility of their past owners, their royal
connections certainly add to the richness of their
stories. These diverse works of art range in date
from the early 11th to the 20th century and were
created in media significant to the cultures and
times in which they were made.

One of the most recent acquisitions is an

extraordinary six-fold Thai screen. It was
created for the Thai royal family around
1862 and is intricately painted on both sides
with dramatic scenes from the romance of
the handsome prince Inao and his beloved
Busaba. The distinctive Thai version of the
story, which was inspired by the Javanese Tale
of Panji, was interpreted in poetry by King
Rama II (r. 18091824). It became a popular
favourite and was particularly enjoyed by
his granddaughter, Queen Somanas (c. 1833
1851). The young queen died shortly after the
birth of her only child, a son who lived only a
few hours, and the screen is likely to have been
commissioned in her memory by her husband
King Mongkut, Rama IV (r. 18511868).
In 1858 Rama IV requested the building of
Wat Somanas Rajavaravihara in Bangkok
as a memorial to his queen. Like the screen,
the temple features murals illustrating scenes
from the Story of Inao. Both were painted at

a time when considerable European influence

can be seen in the art of an innovative group
of Thai painters who incorporated western
perspective, landscapes, architecture and
people into their art. Images from the Story of
Inao depicted on the screen include elaborate
processions of the royal entourage and regaliafilled battles set against recognisable Bangkok
landmarks such as the Grand Palace and the
famous Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
More intimate scenes show Busaba and her
companions bathing in a stream, unaware
they are being watched by Inao and friends;
the launch of a little boat enclosing a
miniature figure holding a love message from
Inao to Busaba; worshipping and dancing at
Buddhist shrines; and numerous instances
in which the charming but duplicitous Inao
plays tricks to get his own way. The poses and
costumes of the figures reflect those used in
Thai dance theatre, while the floral border of
the screen replicates the designs on textiles
created in India and traded to the royal courts
of Thailand. The screen was for many years
in the collection of Rama Vs brother Prince
Bhanurangsi (18591928) who held it high
regard and posed in front of it for a number of
official photographs, including one taken by
Bangkok-based German photographer Robert
Lenz in 1898.
One royal photograph in the Gallerys
collection, a sensitive portrait of the young
Indian Prince Yeshwant Rao Holkar Bahadur
and his sister Manorama Raje, has a connection

to one of the NGAs most renowned and

admired installations: its two Brancusi
Bird in space sculptures. The hand coloured
photograph from around 1918 was probably
taken by Gopinath Devare, photographer to
the father of the sitters, Maharaja Tukoji Rao
III of Indore (now part of Madhya Pradesh).
Yeshwant Rao Holkar (19081961) had a
passion for international art and architecture
and in 1930, while in his early 20s,
commissioned a stylish modernist palace for
himself known as Manik Bagh, Jewel Gardens.
Among the works of art acquired for the
palace were three sculptures by Romanianborn artist Constantin Brancusi, each called

SKIRT CLOTH [KAIN PANJANG] 1960 69, KANGJENG RADEN TUMENGGUNG HARDJONAGORO, SURAKARTA, JAVA, INDONESIA. COTTON, NATURAL DYES; HAND DRAWN BATIK. 105.5 X 254 CM.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

26

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

SHIVA 1010 50, KHMER PEOPLE, THAILAND OR CAMBODIA.

BRONZE, SILVER AND BLACK GLASS; GLASS INLAY, MERCURY
AMALGAM GILDING, 52.5 X 12.0 X 12.0 CM.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

Hardjonagoro in the 1960s and a number of

other textiles created for Indonesias courts.
Born Go Tik Swan, (19312008), K.R.T.
Hardjonagoro was a high-ranking official of
Kasunanan Palace, Surakarta (Solo) in central
Java. Considered an expert on Javanese arts
and culture, and a man of exquisite taste,
Hardjonagoro began his career as a dancer.
His textile work reinvigorated Javanese batik,
drawing on traditional imagery and combining
it with vibrant design, a breadth of regional
inspirations and strong colour. A particularly
bold example of his work, created for royal
wear and dyed in one of Surakatas two palace
workshops, is currently on display in the NGAs
Southeast Asian gallery. The skirt cloth features
a lively pattern of crowned naga serpents, a
symbol of aristocracy, power and fertility in Java.

Loiseau dans lespace (Bird in space) and created

between 1931 and 1936. Two of the works, one
in white marble and the other in black, were
purchased from the Maharajas estate in 1973
for the collection of what would become the
National Gallery of Australia, almost a decade
before its official opening in 1982. Installed
in their own pool, the two elegant Bird in
space sculptures are on permanent display in
Canberra and Manik Bagh is currently used as
the Office of the Commissioner, Customs and
Central Excise.
The Gallery has a long-established
commitment to Indonesian textiles and in
1984 acquired 126 textiles from the private
collection of celebrated Indonesian batik
designer Iwan Tirta (19352010). As well
as creating his own work and playing an
instrumental role in the revival of batik as
art and fashion in Indonesia in the 1970s
and 80s, Iwan Tirta built a large high-quality
collection of Indonesian textiles, especially
batik, from various periods and created for
a range of purposes. Included in the group
are a selection of skirt cloths (kain panjang)
created by Kangjeng Raden Tumenggung

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

Also included in the Iwan Tirta collection are

a group of enormous ceremonial dodot skirt
cloths, including one particularly fine example
made in Surakata in the 19th century. The
plain white diamond-shaped central field is
surrounded by a remarkably intricate gold
on indigo design incorporating a plethora of
creatures such as scorpions, crickets, beetles,
birds, snakes, water snails, crabs, rodents and
bats. Each corner displays a pair of wings, a
courtly symbol related to the mythical Hindu
man-bird, garuda. Such dodot textiles are
included in important ceremonies and believed
to be auspicious and to provide protection
from malevolence. Accordingly, they are worn
by Javanese royal couples as part of wedding
ritual, as well as by court dancers.
Even more voluminous is a recently purchased
Sri Lankan heirloom skirt cloth which is over
4.5 metres long and known as a kukula somana
because its central field is surrounded by
rooster (kukala) motifs. During the period of
the Kandyan kings (14731815), textiles of this
type were the exclusive preserve of nobility.
Occasionally kings presented elements of their
own royal dress as a mark of public honour
to worthy recipients. Such gifts were not to be
worn but were kept as markers of high status.
This kukula somana was presented to Velivita
Sangharaja Saranankara Maha Thero by King
Sri Vijaya Rajasighe (17391747) and remained
in the Velivita family for over 200 years. It is not
certain whether the cloth was made in Sri Lanka
or produced along Indias Coromandel coast to
appeal to Sri Lankan tastes. While Indian trade
textiles are well known and relatively abundant,
cloths made in Sri Lanka are considerably rarer
and less well documented.
Another magnificent work of art with royal
connections in the Gallerys collection is an
11th century Khmer gilded bronze figure,

generally identified as a representation of

the great Hindu god Shiva. While it has a
prominent central third eye, a distinctive
attribute of Shiva, much of the iconography of
the sculpture is enigmatic, making it difficult
to determine the identity of the image with
certainty. Due in part to the different earrings
adorning each ear, the sculpture was earlier
described as Harihara, a combination of Shiva
and Vishnu usually divided vertically down
the centre, with elements of the established
iconography of each deity clearly represented.
This sculpture is unusual as it doesnt hold any
identifying objects and its headdress, which
may have provided clues to identity, is missing.
A similar, though much larger, sculpture in the
collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York is also dated to the 11th century
and has an equally uncertain identity.
An incomplete inscription (registered as K.
1064, Corpus of Khmer Inscriptions, CIK)
around the base of the Gallerys sculpture
reads: ....Viralakshmi to the god of the temple.
Those who maintain the upkeep of the god of
the temple are the people of Prthivindrapura
and Prthivindralaya. This suggests that the
sculpture was commissioned by Viralakshmi,
the queen of Suryavarman I who ruled
from 1002 to 1050. Among the best-known
monuments associated with Suryavarman I
are Phimeanakas at Angkor Thom and Preah
Vihear, a temple dedicated to Shiva, the
ownership of which has long been a subject
of dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.
The locations of Prthivindrapura and
Prthivindralaya have yet to be recorded but
with continued scholarly commitment to
Khmer art, epigraphy and bronze production
sites, it seems likely that they will eventually
be revealed, along with the sculptures
place of manufacture. The gilded image is
beautifully modelled, with regal jewellery,
a richly embellished skirt cloth (sampot) and
extraordinary hair styled in rows punctuated
by lines of rosettes. Although the headdress,
bow at the back of the sampot, a section of the
inscription and the attributes once held are
now missing, and the iron rods in the legs have
swelled over time, cracking the surrounding
bronze, the figure continues to possess
considerable presence and magnetism.
Acquired over a period of almost 40 years, it is
a great privilege to have these magnificent and
varied works of art, created for royal patrons
in South and Southeast Asia using bronze,
cloth, paper and paint, in the collection of the
National Gallery of Australia.
Melanie Eastburn is Curator of Asian art at the
National Gallery of Australia.

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B OO K R E V I E W : P H O T O G R A P H I N G I N D I A S P R I N C E S
Jim Masselos

Posing for Posterity. Royal Indian Portraits

Pramod Kumar KG
I.B. Tauris and Roli Books, New Delhi, 2012
RRP USD 55, hard cover, 256 pages

These days, paintings from the former

princely states of India are extensively
represented in museum holdings around the
world but surprisingly few remain with the
royal families who had supported the artists
over the centuries. The situation is different for
photographers the maharajas patronised from
the time when the medium first came to India
in the mid 19th century. Their photographs
have remained largely in royal hands.
The critical time for the princes was in the 1970s
when the government of India eliminated their
privy purses. To maintain financial viability,
they sold whatever they could. Buyers and
dealers wanted paintings, decorative art
items, and objets de vertu rather than serried
piles of browning, fading photographs. So
while a maharajas processional festival
regalia might end up in a museum or even be
found on elephants parading in an Australian
circus, the photographs of the processions
themselves stayed with the rulers.
What was left in Indias royal collections was
thus in part determined by the fortunes of
taste and the vagaries of art markets. The work
of royal photographers was not then much
appreciated, apart from the Hyderabad-based
photographer Raja Deen Dayal. In contrast, the
output of British and European photographers
recording Indian subjects was prized. So to our
benefit, large royal collections of photographs
remained largely untouched and only over
the past couple of decades have they begun to
come into public view.
One of the people heavily involved in
liberating these photographs is Pramod
Kumar, author of Posing for Posterity. He has

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been associated with the Alkazi Collection

of Photography in Delhi and established in
2005 the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing
in Jaipur. Most importantly he curated a pathbreaking photographic show, Long Exposure:
the Camera at Udaipur, 1857-1957, in a newly
restored gallery in the palace at Udaipur in
2009 and has been a key player in assessing,
restoring and displaying royal photographic
collections elsewhere in India. This
magnificent and lavish volume summarises
his efforts. It begins with a foreword from the
current Rana Mewar, Arvind Singh Mewar, or,
as he describes himself, the 76th Custodian,
House of Mewar, Udaipur: both a reminder
that his is one of the worlds longest surviving
royal lineages, and an assertion of his role
as custodian of the bulk of the photographs
reproduced here.
Kumar follows with a consideration of the
role of the portrait in traditional Indian art
and in the history of photography on the
subcontinent, and discusses its place in
princely family life. Much of his 21-page
introduction draws on that first Udaipur
exhibition. It is followed by over 200 pages
of large, gloriously reproduced images which
also tap into various princely collections, as
well as the V&A, the British Library, other
institutions and private collections.
And what treasures are revealed! There is a
solitary woman ruler, the Begum of Bhopal,
and many male rulers. There are wives in
their zenana quarters, children in formal pose,
and distinguished visitors at functions and at
leisure. They document royal personages in
all their dynastic splendour posing in studios
in full ceremonial dress, dynastic pomp at its
best. Some images catch a fleeting moment, a
memory of an occasion for instance the kill
at a game hunt, a shikar. Such kills were not
limited to adult men as shown in a portrait
of the Maharani of Baroda standing rifle in
hand over a dead tiger or in an image of three
Bikaner princes, not even in their teens, resting
their guns on a dead leopard (pp.98 and 99).
Some interesting points emerge from the
frequent appearance of photos that have been
hand coloured. Two versions of a photo of the
Maharaja of Rewa from 1880 side by side in the
book (pp.148-9) enable comparison between
an original sepia print, and one that has been
over painted, re-creating the rich colours
of clothing and jewels. The reproduction of

other hand coloured photographs suggests

that traditional artists were not immediately
replaced by photography and that they
continued to have some role in the princely
courts. Nevertheless since the photos are
portraits privileging the royal families,
collectively they convey messages about royal
lineages and promote the status and sense of
power attaching to royal families as much as
they give us an appreciation of the skill of the
photographers.
Had such photos been taken by Europeans,
the presentation of rajas in magnificent
court costume would probably be classed
as Orientalist, representing a European
fascination for an exoticised India. But these
photos were not taken to record the European
imperial gaze over a fantasised alien Other.
They were made for patrons who wanted
depictions of themselves in their daily routine
and largely for their own and their friends use:
here is an Indian gaze taking in what one class
of Indians wanted to record of themselves.
That what was commonplace and routine for
maharajas involved holding court and being
with dressed up nobles is another matter.
There is an occasional image in the book that
breaks the usual praxis. One is a haunting,
cryptic image of the Maharani of Gondal
standing but looking down pensively, or
sadly, at a book open on a chair beside her
(p.119). And there is a self portrait of the
Maharaja of Jaipur taken around 1860 which
has him at morning worship half naked in the
garb of a priest (p.140), a world away from the
elaborate dress of other portraits.
This book brings together different elements
in a handsomely produced volume that looks
like a silver casket, with its solidly silvered
page ends. It constitutes a manual for the
practice of elite studio photography and
illustrates the range of poses favoured by the
studios of the day. There is much to enjoy in
the volume, though it is a pity it has neither a
table of contents nor an index. Without them,
tracing a particular lineage through the pages
becomes a chore as is trying to follow the
work of particular photographers.
Jim Masselos is Honorary Reader in History at the
University of Sydney.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

29

TAA S A M E M B E R S DIAR Y

R E C E N T TAA S A A C TI V ITI E S

M A R C H - M AY 2 0 1 4

Guided Tour Encounters with Bali:

A Collectors Journey
24 May 2014, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2.30 pm Walkthrough with Collector Dr
John Yu and Curator Siobhan Campbell.
14 15 June Excursion to Canberra
A Canberra event is being organised for
TAASA members which will include curator
led tours of two exhibitions at the NGA and
other activities. More details to come but put
these dates in your diary!
TAASA IN VICTORIA
Guided tour of the Chinese Museum,
Cohen Place, Melbourne.
Saturday 22 March 2014, 10.30am 11.45am.
Followed by lunch at 12.00 in Chinatown.
Cost for museum tour $10, $8 concession.
Further details will be sent to members
shortly. For more information contact Boris
Kaspiev: vic.taasa@gmail or 0421 038 491
TAASA TEXTILE STUDY GROUP
Wednesday 12 March, 6-8pm
PLC Room Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
A Tale of Two Cities: Modernity and its
expression in early 20th century textiles
in SE Asia: A number of intriguing textiles
dated to the early 20th C depict symbols
of modernity buildings, cars, bicycles
among them. They are found on batik
from Java, and on tie dyes from Cambodia
two regions some 2000km apart. In this
presentation, Gill Green will explore their
origins and interrelationships.
Details of TSG meetings planned for 9 April
and 7 May will be circulated when available.
TAASA CERAMICS STUDY GROUP
Tuesday 11 March 2014, 6-8pm
High Tech Seminar room, F20, COFA,
Oxford St Paddington Sydney.
An exploration of Vietnams Ly and Tran
ceramics(1009-1400)in their historical
context.
The focus of this talkby Kerry NguyenLong will be glazed ceramicsmade in theLy
andTran which inform andmotif arevery
much a product of their cultural milieu and
on that account distinctive to this period. The
talk will cover the physical features of these
ceramics,supportedwith illustrated examples.
Members are invited to bring Vietnamese
ceramic pieces to share and discuss.
Refreshments provided. $15 members,
$20 non members. RSVP: Margaret White
at Margaret.artmoves@gmail.com.

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TAASA TEXTILE STUDY GROUP,

SYDNEY
Does the Devil wear black?
13 November 2013
In this talk, Marianne Hulsbosch investigated
where the concept of white is good and black
is evil originated and how this manifested in
Ambon, a remote island east of the Indonesian
archipelago. Portuguese Jesuit missionaries
and the Dutch Protestant ministers who
arrived there in 1599 introduced their own
clothing systems, using dress as a symbol of
social, cultural and economic control.
The oppressive and restricting black dress
adopted by the indigenous people was in
stark contrast with the fashionable gailycoloured summer cotton dresses and white
suits of the Europeans who lived there:
a visual separation enforced by colonial
attitudes. The presentation generated a lively
discussion to finish the evening.
TAASA END OF YEAR PARTY, SYDNEY
4 December 2013
TAASAs Sydney end-of-year party was held
at the Korean Cultural Office in Elizabeth
Street, Sydney by kind invitation of Director
Dong-Ok Lee. Over 80 members enjoyed a
convivial evening which included a short
performance of traditional Korean songs
and Korean drums by Hyung-sik Shin and

viewing entries for the first Korean-Australia

Arts Foundation Arts Prize.
Gill Green, TAASA President, welcomed
members to this popular annual event which
rounded off the varied program for the year.
TAASA is grateful for the assistance of Juno Do,
Exhibition and Program Manager at the KCO.
TAASA VICTORIA END OF YEAR PARTY,
MELBOURNE
5 December 2013
It was a full house for TAASA Victorias endof-year party at the elegant new premises
of The Joshua McClelland Print Room at
Rathdowne Galleries in North Carlton.
Mrs Joan McClelland and her daughters
Trish Williams and Philippa Kelly hosted
TAASA members and guests, and we
enjoyed viewing the fascinating range of
contemporary and antique pieces on view.
Mrs McClelland, who as most members
would know has been a passionate advocate
for Asian art in Melbourne for more than
60 years, spoke about some of her favourite
ceramics on display. We were also pleased
to honour her recent 100th birthday with
a special toast. Thanks to Mrs McClelland,
Trisha Williams and Philippa Kelly for a
generous and enjoyable opportunity to
celebrate the finish of the year.

TAASA AGM and TAASA Oration

14 May 2014, 6-8pm, COFA, Paddington, Sydney
Following a brief AGM, Professor David Christian, Department of Modern History,
Macquarie University, will present TAASAs inaugural Oration, an annual event initiated
to introduce distinguished speakers and provide a forum for their ideas and projects.
Prof. Christians research area covers Inner Eurasia (Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia).
He is Director of the Big History Institute at Macquarie University and co-founder with
Bill Gates of the Big History Project, an ambitious attempt to bringing together the
knowledge available in many different scholarly disciplines.
Members will be sent full details closer to the date.

TAASA IN QUEENSLAND
Current and former TAASA Queensland members and QAGOMA curatorial staff
welcomed TAASA President Gill Green to an afternoon tea held on 19 January, to launch
a calendar of Brisbane events for the year ahead. The 2014 calendar is currently being
finalised, including visits and handling sessions with interstate dealers and Asian art
specialists, artist talks at leading commercial galleries, invitations to view and handle
some special private Brisbane collections and special advanced invitations to related
public programs at QAGOMA. Please contact James MacKean for more information at:
taasa.qld@gmail.com.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

W H AT S O N : M A R C H - M A Y 2 0 1 4
A SELECTIVE ROUNDUP OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
Compiled by Tina Burge
ACT

NSW

Garden of the East: photography in

Afghanistan: hidden treasures from the

Indonesia 1850s1940s

National Museum, Kabul

21 February - 22 June 2014

7 March 15 June 2014

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Over 200 works including many new

acquisitions will be on view in this first
art museum survey of the development
of photographic art in Southeast Asia. The
exhibition includes a wide array of formats
of 19th and early 20th century photography:
from miniature cartes de visite to panoramas
and massive presentation albums of
commercial views; handmade family
albums and illustrated books. Garden of the
East includes work by the pioneer, mostly
European, photographers in Indonesia such as
Walter Woodbury and Isidore van Kinsbergen.
It also has a special focus on works by
Javanese professional, Kassian Cphas, the
first indigenous photographer of note.

During the turmoil that followed the 1979

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the rise of
the Taliban in 1996, the director and curators
of the National Museum in Kabul risked their
lives to keep the museums most precious
objects from being destroyed. These were
secreted in the central bank vaults at the
presidential palace, with multiple keys given
to a few brave custodians, known as keyholders. The surviving treasures date from
2200BCE to 200AD, and include important
archaeological finds from four significant Silk
Route sites. Among the precious objects are
Bronze Age gold pieces; hundreds of ancient
coins; and the famous Bactrian hoard, a
collection of some 20,000 gold, silver, and
ivory artefacts from burial plots at Tillya Tepe
in northern Afghanistan.

Events in association with the exhibition

include:
1 March 2:00 pm, Curators perspective:
Gael Newton, Senior Curator Photography
and exhibition curator will outline her
approach to the exhibition.
20 March, 12:45 pm, Japanese woodblock
prints: Dr Olivia Meehan, Lecturer, Art History,
ANU, speaks about Yoshitoshis series of bijinga, or pictures of beautiful women, Thirty-two
aspects of customs and manners (1888).
4 May 2:30 pm: Auslan signinterpreted tour
of Garden of the East.

In the lecture series across three Saturdays

from 22 March to 5 April archaeologists and
museum experts discuss important ethical
and practical issues raised by the exhibition.
Khadim Ali - The Haunted Lotus
6 March 1 June 2014
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

In association with Afghanistan: Hidden

Treasures, AGNSW has commissioned
the Afghani-Australian artist Khadim

Ali to represent the contemporary art of

Afghanistan. His work considers familial
ties, the Hazara people and culture, and
the emergence of a lawless society in
Afghanistan. In addition to these social
issues, Khadim Ali revisits recurrent themes
in his work, such as the construction of
morality (good and evil) and ethnic, racial
and religious fanaticism. The exhibition
is comprised of new works including
handmade carpets (woven in Kabul),
photographs, drawings, video and
miniature paintings.
For further information go to:
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
VICTORIA
Wang Gongxin, Video Artist
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
11 April 28 September 2014

The exhibition features three large scale

immersive video works from Beijing born
artist Wang Gongxin. Initially trained as a
socialist-realist style oil painter, he began
to produce video art in 1993 and is credited
as one of the first artists to have created a
site-specific video installation in China in
the mid-1990s. As a first generation Chinese
video artist, Wang Gongxin has commented
that his concerns are social and concerned
with political and social issues, as well as
history and tradition.
For further information go to:
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
Stars of the Tokyo stage:

6 May 12:45 pm, Indonesian photographer,

Kassian Cphas (18451912): Gael Newton
discusses his remarkable career. Free.

Natori Shunsens kabuki actor prints

8 May 28 June 2014
RMIT Gallery, Melbourne

18 May 1:30 pm: Traditional Indonesian

dance performance supported by the
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.

The prints reveal the dynamic world of

Japans kabuki theatre through superb actor
portraits created by artist Natori Shunsen
(18861960) in the 1920s and 30s. A selection
of kabuki robes from the NGAs recently
acquired collection from a Japanese theatre
company illustrates the extravagance of this
theatrical form. The exhibition will return to
the NGA from 19 July- 12 October 2014.

June 14 -15: Borobodur to Bali, a special

events weekend for 'Garden of the East
and 'Finding your place in the world: recent
contemporary Asian photomedia. Curator
tours, talks and screenings. Saturday 14 June,
seminar day with FX Harsono and Alex
Supartono, Indonesian scholar on historical
perspectives. Saturday afternoon - TAASA
members reception.

For more information go to:

www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery

For more information go to:

www.nga.gov.au
THE HAUNTED LOTUS, KHADIM ALI, 2013. GOUACHE,
INK AND GOLD LEAF ON PAPER. COPYRIGHT THE ARTIST.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 3 N O. 1

COURTESY MILANI GALLERY, BRISBANE.

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