Resource Spotlight | “Ancient Indonesian Gold of the Central and Eastern Javanese Periods 750 - 1550: A Selection” by Jaap Polak

 

Celestial Nymph
East Java, found near Patjet, 1910
14th century
Gold
Photo: Documentation Centre for Ancient Indonesian Art, Amsterdam

 
 

ANCIENT INDONESIAN GOLD

of the Central and Eastern Javanese Periods
750-1550

A Selection

by Jaap Polak

 
 
 
 

Published by C. Zwartenkot Art Books.

 
 

Ancient Indonesian Gold is the first publication of the Documentation Centre for Ancient Indonesian Art in Amsterdam. It examines Indonesian gold, sculptures, objects, and jewelry, affording fresh insights into the history, techniques, and use of the special types of jewelry made by Javanese goldsmiths. The objects have been studied closely and their descriptions sometimes differ from that in earlier publications. This was done in an attempt to give the reader new information about ancient Javanese gold. Most of the 115 selected items are published here for the first time and provide a good introduction to the fascinating goldsmith art of Central- and East Java from circa 750 to 1550.

Several objects exhibit the foreign influences that helped shape Javanese art, as illustrated by early photographs. This begins with the impact of Hinduism from India, somewhat later that of Buddhism, and subsequently of Islamic culture.

The illustrations in this publication include high-quality photographs of the works of art as well as old photographs and details of archaeological sites throughout Java. In this way, art lovers are able to better understand Indonesian culture as well as the virtuosity of Javanese goldsmiths. Indonesia's rise to greatness was due to its ability to time and again absorb new elements from foreign cultures and incorporate them into its own intrinsic civilization.

 
 

Plate VI - Prajñapāramitā
East Java, ca. 1300
Collection: Museum Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta, inv. no. 1403 / XI 1587, h. 126 cm
Photo: Documentation Centre for Ancient Indonesian Art, Amsterdam

 

Parentalia
P. Lauters after H. van der Haart and A.J. Bik, in: C.L. Blume, Rumphia, sive Commentationes Botanicae Imprimis de Plantis Indiae Orientalis, Leiden 1835-49
Photo: Documentation Centre for Ancient Indonesian Art, Amsterdam

 
 

Ganeśa, from Candi Banon
Central Java, first half 9th century
Collection: Museum Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta, inv. no. 186 b, h. 148 cm.
Photo: Oudheidkundige Dienst no. 1112 a; Documentation Centre for Ancient Indonesian Art, Amsterdam

 

Bodhisattva Vajrapāni
Central Java, found at Bantul
9th century
Gold

Ring with a Pūrnaghata
Central Java
8th - 9th century
Gold

Ring with a Pūrnaghata
Central Java
8th - 9th century
Gold

Chastity Plaque with the Goddess Śri Tańjung
East Java, found at Tirtojono near Kajangan
14th century
Gold

Porcelain Pot with Gold Mounts
Central Java, found near Prambanan
9th - 1st quarter of the 10th century
Gold
Porcelain: China, Tang Dynasty (621-907)

Ear Ornament with a Haematite
East Java
12th - early 13th century
Gold and haematite

Votive Plaque Representing the God Śiva with an Inscription
Central Java, most probably found at Purbalingga
2nd quarter 9th century
Gold

Celestial Nymph
East Java, found near Patjet, 1910
14th century
Gold

Ear Clip
Central Java
Late 8th - 1st quarter 10th century
Gold, sapphire, and tourmaline

Ear Ornament with a Haematite
East Java
12th - early 13th century
Gold and haematite

Ear Pendant
Central Java
8th-9th century
Gold

Ear Pendant
Central Java
8th-9th century
Gold

Celestial Nymph (Detail)
East Java, found near Patjet, 1910
14th century
Gold

Two V-shaped Ear Pendants
Central Java
8th - 1st quarter 10th century
Gold

 
 

Jaap Polak studied European art history, Indo-Iranian languages, and the art and archaeology of South- and Southeast Asia at the University of Amsterdam.

His first publication about ancient Indonesian gold was ‘Indonesischer Schmuck' for the exhibition catalogue Java und Bali, Stuttgart, in 1980. He wrote the catalogue section of the book Indo-Javanese Metalwork, 1984, for the Linden Museum, Stuttgart, with Professor Doctor J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw (1919-1983). Later, in 1995, he co-authored the catalogue Versunkene Königreiche Indonesiens, a traveling exhibition that originated in the Roemer und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim.

His articles include one for the exhibition Majapahit, The Golden Age of Indonesia, Late 13th-Early 16th Century' in the Museum of Ethnology, now the Wereldmuseum, in Rotterdam: 'A Unique Gold Modesty Plate from the Majapahit Period, in Arts of Asia, Hong Kong, Nov.-Dec. 2000.

In 2009 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, invited Jaap Polak to describe its important and extensive collection of Indo-Javanese gold artefacts.

In 1984 he founded the Documentation Centre for Ancient Indonesian Art, Amsterdam, a veritable treasury of rare and early photographs of archaeology, monuments, sculptures, and historical objects made of bronze, silver and gold from Indonesia. The photographs date from the late 19th century to the present day.

 
 
 

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