NORTH BALI
FIRST ENCOUNTERS
INNOVATIONS IN NORTH BALI INFLUENCES FROM ABROAD
&
INFLUENCES OF NORTH BALI ABROAD End 19th-beginning 20th century
Dr. H.I.R. HINZLER, 2013
WAYANG KULIT FIGURES FROM NORTH BALI INTRODUCED IN EUROPE
Wayang puppets, fourteen figures in total, were bought for the Colonial Exhibition held in Amsterdam in 1883. The collection is not representative of a set of figures to be used by a puppet player. The figures are of the Mahabharata repertoire - in Bali called wayang Parwa, comprising the five Pandawa's (sons of Pandu, namely Darmawangsa, Arjuna, Bima, Nakula and
Sahadewa), two of their sons (Abimanyu son of Arjuna and Gatotkaca son of Bima); Kresna an uncle; an alley, and their two main servants and interpreters Twalen and Mredah. The
Korawa party, opponents of the Pandawa's, is represented by one figure only, Jayawikata. The teacher of groups, Orona, is also present. The two female figures, Supraba and Nilotama, are nymphs residing in heaven. The figures are kept in the Municipal Museum of Ethnology in Leiden (Series. RMV 370).
The second group of wayang puppets, seven in total, was bought by a civil servant by the name Heycop, who resided in North Bali. Only four of them shown at the Colonial Exhibition in Paris in 1893. Two servants of the Pandawa party: Twalen and Mredah; one servant of the opposite party, Sangut, and
Tilotama, a nymf were exhibited. The figures are now also kept in the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden (Series RMV 933).
The Dutch linguist Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk collected wayang figures when he lived in Singaraja between 1870 and 1894. He apparently wanted to use them for his Kawi-Balinese- Dutch Dictionary, which after his death was printed in four
volumes between 1894 and 1912. He refers to the wayang
puppets in his dictionary, mostly to servants and demons of hell, particularly those with non-stereotype body shapes and speech (Kaki Cenikih, an old grandfather; Gede's, with heads
resembling horses, and bottle or glasslike bellies: Baag,
Baragan, Gelas and Jebag; Tole a son of Twalen and Togog a servant of the Pandawa's in North Bali, but of Panji in the south;
the "mothers" : Men Kopok-Kopokan, Kedodok, and
1
Temblek,Tembolo). They appear to be characteristic of North Bali at that time. A small number, 24, of wayang figures were discovered in his house after his death, and they were send to Leiden University as part of his legacy. All figures are from North Bali, most of them are inscribed with their names. The puppets must have been collected between 1870 and 1984, the period during which Van der Tuuk stayed in Singaraja, North- Bali. After Van der Tuuk's death in 1894, his notes, books and collections were send to the Leiden University Library. The wayang figures, 24 in number, were added later to the collection of the Municipal Museum of Ethnology in Leiden (Series RMV 2601 ).
Of none of these figures the origin is mentioned: there is no name of the maker, the village where he lived and whether he was a dalang or a puppet maker only. The stylistic
characteristics of the figures, however, point at North Bali. It is
also not a complete collection. It seems that only a few figures were bought to serve as examples.
There is a fourth set of hundred figures of which more is known.
The set comprises most figures of the Parwa (Mahabharata) storie, but there are a few of the Ramayana repertoire (the wicked king Rawana, eight monkeys of high descent and six ordinary ones). Six of them (four male gods, a princess and a nymf from heaven) were exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. They are depicted in the Album edited by C.M.
Pleyte and printed in 1901 (Plate XXIV). They were made by a
"dalang in Banjar" according to the text. Therefore they may be representative of the Banjar style at the end of the 19tti century.
According to recent information, there was only one dalang in Banjar village at the end of the nineteenth century, a Brahmin by the name Ida Putu Sweca (information Ida Bagus Komang Werdi, his grandson, 2013). The dalang performing a piece from the parwa repertoire, represented in a glass negative made between 1910 and 1913, may be this "dalang from Banjar". The puppets are now kept in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam (Series 15-954). It is remarkable that there is no
figure of a kekayonan, a kind of waringin tree, which plays such an important role in a wayang performance. The set from Banjar comprises a tree figure (No. 15-954-97), but it is, according to the text written in Balinese script on it, a punyan kepuh, a kepuh tree, the kind that is growing in hell and at cremation places.
Kepuh Tree, by dalang Banjar in 1898, c. Tropen-museum, No. 15-054-97
3
Dalang Banjar, Ida Putu Sweca, day wayang performance, c. Tropen Institute, Amsterdam, No. 10024333, ex. c. loU. van Steenis, Resident of Bali 1910-1913.
WAYANG KULIT FIGURES OF DALANG IDA PUTU SWECA BANJAR
A set of hundred wayang figures was bought from "the dalang in Banjar" by C.M. Pleyte, who travelled from end October 1898 till beginning of 1899 in Bali and Lombok. He was back in
Holland in June 1899. A number of these figures were exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
Displaying images of the Hindu Pantheon was a favourite topic at hat time. The aim was to show the international audience in Paris "what was still left of ancient Hinduism in Bali and
Lombok" (Verslag 1902:209).
Siwa, Mahadewa, Iswara (now lost), Wisnu, and Brahma were displayed, with two women, princesses, namely Srikandi-
Arjuna's wife- and Subadra (now lost) -married to Arjuna as well. They were also depicted in the large album "Selected Specimens of Ancient and Modern Art and Handwork" (Pleyte 1901, pI. XXIV) accompanying the exhibition. One may wonder why these ladies depicted close to the gods, were meant
represent their spouses. There was not much choice; of the eight women in the Banjar collection, three were servants, two were nymphs and two were princesses. The only goddess,
Durga, however was omitted or overlooked. The other wayang collections in The Netherlands, at that time, did not contain figures of goddesses.
The descriptions in the album are rather "out of date" now. The author treats his subject matter as if he is writing about Indian figures from the Indian Mahabharata in an Indian context, but it is important that he uses the term "art" in the title of his book.
He regards the puppets, statues and paintings as art, not as handicraft, which was quite a new idea at that time.
5
Siwa, No. 15-954-85 Mahadewa, No. 15-954-30
Brahma, No. 15-954-25 Wisnu, No. 15-954-03
Durga, No. 15.954-34 Srikandi, No. 15-954-16
Literature:
Anonymous, Verslag Centrale Commissie Wereld-tentoonstelling Parijs in 1900, The Hague, 1902
Pleyte, M.C., 'Selected Specimens of Ancient and Modern Art and Handwork from the Dutch Archipelago', The Hague, 1901.
7
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI-ARJUNA 2ND OFTHE PANDAWA
Exhibited in Amsterdam in ~883, Col. RMV 933-~3
Exhibited in Paris in ~893, Col. Heycop in RMV 933.~3
Col. RMV 3557.42, origin and date unknown
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, BIMA AND HIS SON GATOTKACA
SIMA
col. RMV 370-876,shown in 1883 at exhibition
col. RMV 3854-17
Bima, made by dalang Banjar in 1898, col. Tropenmuseum, 15-954-92
9
Bima is the third of the five Pandawa brothers. Van der Tuuk gives the following information on Bima in his dictionary: His eyes are called "mata tuhu-tuhu" in the wayang, this means
"eyes with contours in red". He is called "panenggek", the second, in the wayang, which is Javanese. This is because
"pamade" (same as Made, the second) is already used for Arjuna. The hairdress of Bima is called "glung buwana lukar".
The long nail of his right hand is called "pancanaka" (nail on the fifth finger), the left one "kuku bayu" (nail as god Bayu). He is also called "buntut" in the wayang, when he offered himself as food to the demon Baka.
GATOTKACA
Gatotkaca is a son of Bima with the female demon Hidimbi.
col. RMV,No. 370-877 Banjar, 1898, col. Tropen, No. 15-954-93 Exhibited in Amsterdam in 1883
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI
THE NYMPHS SUPRABA AND NILOTAMA LIVE IN INDRA'S HEAVEN
Supraba, 1883, Exhibition Amsterdam, RMV 370-874
Nilotama, 1883, Exhibition Amsterdam,RMV 370-882
Supraba, Van der Tuuk, 1870/94, RMV 2601-23
Nilotama, 1893, Heycop, RMV 933-11
11
WAYANG KUUT NORTH BAU- TWALEN, FIRST SERVANT OF FIGURES OF THE RIGHT PARTY AND TOLE, HIS SON
via Van der Tuuk,
1870/94, RMV 2601-08
1893, Exhibited in Paris via Heycop, col. RMV 933-10
TWALEN
1883, Exhibited in
Amsterdam, RMV 38-872
1898, Banjar, col.Tropen 15-954-67
Van der Tuuk writes in his dictionary about Twalen: "name of the servant of the members of the Pandawa party in the
wayang. He has black skin, is cross-eyed, and his weapon is a penis. It is called "sliksik", cannon ball, because it is so
powerful. The "sliksik" is the name of the magic cannon ball owned by the Dewa Agung of Klungkung. Twalen's role in the wayang parwa is similar as Semar in the gambuh theatre or in kidung literature.
TOLE
Exhibited in Paris in 1893, via Heycop col. RMV 933.09
About Tole Van der Tuuk writes: name of a comical figure in the wayang. His voice is sqeaky, "ngengkik". He is the son of
Twalen; he is the servant of Abimanyu, Arjuna's son.
13
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, MREDAH orWANA, SECOND SERVANT OF FIGURES OF THE RIGHT PARTY
Via Van der Tuuk, 1870-1894 Col. RMV 2601-11
via Heycop, col. RMV 933-08 exhibited in Paris in 1893
col. RMV 370-883,
Exhibited in Amsterdam in 1883,
col. RMV 3854-27
Van der Tuuk says about him: "Mredah, Wredah, Ordah, name of the servant of Laksmana (in the Ramayana) and the
Pandawa's (in the Parwa repertoire). He has green skin and wears a kind of turban, "tengkuluk". He is called Turas in the wayang gambuh. WANA is another name of Mredah, the
second servant of the members of the Pandawa party. His wife is called Klenteng Sari. He has green skin in North Bali".
15
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, DELEM AND SANGUT, MAIN SERVANT OF MEMBERS OF THE LEFT PARTY
DELEM, via Van der Tuuk, 1870-1894, Col. RMV 2601-02
SANGUT, via Van derTuuk, 1870-1894, Col. RMV 2601-01 Exhibited in Paris in 1893, Heycol Col., RMV 933-07
Van der Tuuk writes in his dictionary: "DELEM/DILEM, is the personal name of a servant of Rawana, and Yama,
together with I SANGUT. Characteristic of the wayang figure is the "tampyang" or "dalem". His voice is called "gaak-gaak", meaning he has a very loud voice: "gede pesak munyinne".
And: SANGUT, He is a servant of the Korawa party, but after the victory of the Pandawa party, he joins them. His colour is green in the wayang, and he has a "kuncir", a pig's tail, on top of his head. He and Delem usually are the servants of the opponents of the Pandawa party. In the Bimaswarga they are the servants of the god Yama".
About these servants, panasar, he gives the following
information: "PANASAR, from dasar, meaning basic colour.
Figures in the wayang, like Tole, Turas and others, speak Balinese. They translate the texts spoken by their bosses in (Old) Javanese".
17
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, GEDE BAAG, GEDE
GALUR, GEDE BARAGAN
Gede Baag, viaVan der Tuuk, Gede Galur, col. RMV 3854-30 col. RMV 2601-26
GEDE BARAGAN, DALANG BANJAR, 1898, COL. TROPEN 15-954-63
According to Van der Tuuk's dictionary: "GEDE BAAG,Name of a kind of banyol (clown) playing in the wayang. Baag means hot iron. A figure with a name starting with "gede" has the head of a horse. It plays a role in North Balinese wayang only.
GEDE BARAGAN is a kind of clown "banyol" in the wayang.
His head resembles a horse. His nickname is "Baong bebek", throat of a duck, because it resembles that of a duck".
19
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, SERVANTS, KAKIANG CENIKIH BUNGUT SWAH
Kakiang Cenikih, via Van der Tuuk, 1870-94, col. RMV 2601-21
Bungut Swah, via Van der Tuuk, 1870-94, col. RMV 2601-12
Van der Tuuk, who collected these figures, gives the following information on them in his dictionary: "CENIKIH, KAKI
CENIKIH or TUWAN CENIKIH. He is comical figure in North Balinese wayang, playing the same role as Sangut. According to some he is a Selam Sasak (Muslim from East Lombok), but others say that he is the same as Maman Gatepan who is a balian (witch doctor)".
"BUNGUT SUAH, Bungut Suwah (= comb), or Bungut Suwab and Bungut Kikian, are names of a comical figure with many teeth represented like a comb. He is also called Pengakan
wayah and I Undur-Unduran, the latter because he pronounces a "surang" (r or h) after every word ending on a vowel. For example "ulijar" in stead of "ulija", and "cakpyah".
21
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, FEMALE SERVANTS MEN KOPOKAN AND MEN TEMELOLO
Men Kopok-Kopokan, exhibited in 1893 in Paris, via Heycop, col.
RMV 933-2
Men Temelolo, via Van der Tuuk, 1870-94, col. RMV 2601-03; lower jaw is missing
MEN KOPOK-KOPOKAN is according to Van der Tuuk "a name given by Twalen to a servant figure, condong. The puppet has a fat belly and a protruding forehead "jangak". She has usually two cigarettes behind her ear or in her hair-knot. She is the wife of Mredah. Originally she plays a role in the gambuh theatre".
About MEN TEMBOLO or TEMELOLO he writes: "She is a
comical figure in the wayang. Her voice is like a goat. She is the wife of Twalen".
Both figures only playa role in North Balinese wayang.
23
WAYANG KULIT NORTH BALI, FIGURES IN HELL OR CREMATION PLACE -ASU GAPLONG, BUTA SLIWAH
Asu Gaplong, via Van der Tuu
Buta Sliwah with a corpse, via Van der Tuuk, 1870-94, col. RMV 2601- 06
Van der Tuuk , the collector of these figures, gives the following information on them in his dictionary:
ASU GAPLONG, "Personal name of a hound of hell. He plays a role in Bimaswarga wayang performances".
BUTA SALIWAH or SLiWAH, "A female demon represented in the wayang as half-red half-black. He is carrying a human head.
She is a female servant of Durga, living at cremation places".
25
PANTHEON HINDU GODS AS WAYANG FIGURES
With the help of the wayang figures made by the dalang from Banjar, a pantheon of Hindu gods was constructed for the exhibition in Paris in 1900. The designer was not yet aware of the Balinese principle of the Dewata Nawasanga, the gods and their weapons associated with the nine quarters of the
compass, otherwise he would have made an other arrangement.
The choice we would make now is as follows:
Four armed Siwa in the centre.
Centre, Siwa, white skin, but associated with all colours, c. Tropen 15-954-25
Right: Siwa as Iswara, white skin, east, c. Tropen 15-954-10?
Lost
left: Siwa as Mahadewa, yellow skin, west, c. Tropen 15-954-20
27
top: Wisnu, green skin, north, c. Tropen 15-954-03
bottom: Brahma, red skin, south, c. Tropen 15-954-85
About the goddesses, spouses of the gods, there is a problem when searching for their images as wayang figures in these old
collections. Durga, a demonic form as Siwa's spouse, living on cremation sites, is often used in wayang.
Durga, c. Tropen 15-954-34
Srikandi, c. Tropen 15-954-16 and Subadra (lost) were just taken because they had pretty facesl
29
WOODSTATUES OF HINDU GODS SHOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PARIS IN 1900
The wooden statues representing figures of gods and minor gods from the Balinese Hindu Pantheon were shown for the first time at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. The organizing committee had decided to show not only the pantheon of Hindu- Javanese monuments, but also of examples from Bali and
Lombok where Hinduism was still alive. The collection is
described as "a curious collection of Balinese afgodsbeelden, among them some that had never been seen before in Europe". (Verslag 1902: 209). The statues were displayed on a large wooden pyramid with the shape of a lotus flower. It had three tiers, and on the lowest floor eight statues are visible. It is not clear, nor is it mentioned in the literature about the exhibition, how many statues in total were shown on the lotus. Assuming that there were eight at each floor, 24 pieces and a 25th on top could have been shown. The statues made for the exhibition, 28 in total, were registered under the numbers 15-156 -128 b (in 1912 because they entered the Tropenmuseum in
Amsterdam in that year; previously they were kept in the
building of Natura Artis Magistra). This means that they must
have been made before 1900 and thus were made for and bought by C.M. Pleyte. He was a member of the commission preparing the exhibition, and travelled in Bali from October 1898 till beginning of 1899. He was back in Amsterdam in June 1899.
(Verslag 1902: 220). A portfolio with large sized photographs of a selected number of the items exhibited entitled "Indonesian Art, Selected specimens of ancient and modern art and
handwork from the Dutch Indian Archipelago" was published in July 1901. Plate No. XVI shows the statue of Pamurtian Kresna (or Wisnu, Kresna is not a god in Bali) with an additional text.
This image was placed on the lowest part of the lotus, as can be seen on the photograph.
The statues are as tall as humans, between 1,68 and 1,75 m high. Most figures have long legs, small torso and head, but
rather long necks. Therefore, they might originate from the area of Sawan, because there are similar slender stone statues in temples, made around 1900, in this area. Moreover there was a Punggawa, Ida Njoman Karang, who was a famous sculptor around 1900. He helped Pleyte when he wanted to buy or order items for the exhibition. In the description of a sculpted litter (Plate I), it is said that it was made under the auspices of Ida Njoman Karang. The Dutch painter W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp visited him in March 1904 (diary, Fisole pp. 91 & 402) and in 1906 (Nieuwenkamp 1905-10: 149-151). He wrote about Ida Njoman Karang as being "a fine sculptor. Now he is a
Punggawa, he has no time for sculpting any more, but others work for him according to his directions". Ketut Suamba from Menyali did confirm this (info 18 Aug. 2009). His grandfather, Gede Negara, was one of the sculptors who worked for the Punggawa. The statues, indeed, are not the work of one hand, but they all show that their makers were very creative and
highly skilled artists. They had a difficult task: making such large wood sculptures of gods of a Hindu pantheon, usually not or rarely represented in Bali in wayang, drawing, stone or wood sculpture. The makers had their own interpretations. Some of their figures wear "wayang" or "dance" costumes, others clothes of royalty and distinguished members of Balinese society at that time.
Nieuwenkamp saw a number of carvings in wood and stone in the house,gria, of the Punggawa, among others a beautifully carved wooden frame, ulap-ulap, above the front door in the porch. He also mentions that the gateway to the domestic sanctuary, the building of which had started in 1904, was completed when he visited the house two years later. It had seven carvings of Boma heads, furthermore there were statues of Garudas, a Wisnu, Rawana, Pan and Men Brayut all painted in bright greens, yellows, blues, and whites. The material came from a quarry of volcanic stone, paras, close to Sawan.
Nieuwenkamp had made a drawing of part of the gateway under construction in 1904, and of the entrance of the gria with
31
the gate in the background, in 1906. This gate, as well as shrines of the domestic sanctuary of the, figured in the 1920s- 30s on postcards published by Visser in Batavia. However, the place .of origin was not mentioned on the cards.
During a visit to Gria Gede in Sawan on 28 July 2009, it became clear that this was indeed the place where
Nieuwenkamp had been, where the Punggawa had lived and where the postcards referred to. In the pamrajan there are tall stone statues flanking the entrances of the shrines. They are of the same size as the wooden figures shown in Paris.
Particularly a Mahadewa statue is interesting, because it shows similar features as the wood sculpture (No. 15-156) in
Amsterdam. Ketut Suamba, examining photographs of the statues now kept in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, told when he saw the Mahadewa, that it was a very fine and daring piece of sculpture, because only one of the four hands, back left, was raised.Apparently it is a feature characteristic of the Sawan sculptors. He added that in the past only a Brahmin sculptor was allowed to make statues of Siwa, including those of Mahadewa and Siwa Guru, aspects of Siwa. When he saw the wooden Pamurtian Brahma, (No. 15-176 ) he told that the original statue was made in stone for the Pura Desa in
Kubutambahan by the same sculptor (Info Ketut Suamba 18.8.09).
Literature:
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., diary 1904, diary 1918,
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., Bali en Lombok, 1905-1910, De Zwerver, Edam.
Verslag der Centrale Commissie tot inrichting van de afdelingen van Nederland en zijne Kolonien en tot behartiging van de belangen der inzenders in die afdeelingen op de Wereldtentoonstelling te Parijs in 1900, Den Haag, maart 1902.
Pleyte, C.M., "Indonesian Art, Selected specimens of ancient and modern art and handwork from the Dutch Indian Archipelago", 1901.
Visser, album with postcards from Bali, no date, but made in the 1920s- 1930s.
Lotus with statues of the Balinese Hindu Pantheon in wood, World Exhibition Paris 1.900. The manner in which they were grouped together is not in accordance with Balinese concepts of order and
hierarchy.
33
~ '7
~~,-
..
Pamrajan Gria Gede, Sawan shrine with statues, left: Siwa Guru, right Wism
Batara Guru, KIT 14-158 drawing by Nieuwenkamp pamrajan G.Gede Sawan, re-painted
WOODEN STATUES, LOWER PART OF THE LOTUS, WORLD EXHIBITION PARIS 1901
from left to right: Baruna (Tropen 15-170), Pamurtian Wisnu (Tropen 15-157), Siwa Mahadewa (Tropen 15-156), Yamaraja (Tropen 15-182a), back: right to left: Siwa Guru (Tropen 15- 158), Kala Rahu (Tropen 15-173a), Indra (Tropen 15-165), Pamurtian Brahma (Tropen 15-176) .
35
Baruna Pamurtian Wisnu Siwa Mahadewa Yamaraja
Siwa Guru Kala Rahu Indra Brahmamurti
WOODEN STATUES SECOND PLATFORM
From left to right: Durga (Tropen 15-164), Kalika (Tropen 15-174), Widadara (Tropen 15-166), Bregu (Tropen 15-172)
Durga Kalika Widadara Bhregu
37
WOODEN STATUES THIRD FLOOR
From left to right: Brahma (Tropen 15-159), Saraswati (Tropen 15-160), Wisnu (Tropen 15-161), Widadari (Tropen 15-167)
Brahma Saraswati Wisnu Widadari
NORTH BALINESE DRAWINGS IN THE VAN DER TUUK COLLECTION
LEIDEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
The collection, consisting of 310 sheets of paper with drawings, is numbered LOr. 3390, 1-307 and LOr. 17.994, 1-3.
The drawings were commissioned by Van der Tuuk ((1824- 1894) between about 1880 and 1894. After his death they were bequeathed to the Leiden University Library. The numbers 1- 307 received the stamp of the library, Acad.Lugd.Bat.Bibl, (Library of the Academy of Lugdunum Batavorum, the Latin name for Leiden), which was unfortunately quite often placed in the middle of the drawings on the recto side.
Three more drawings (LOr. 17994, 1-3) were found later in a book auctioned in London. They are provided with notes in Dutch and English in the handwriting of Van der Tuuk. He may have sent these drawings to a linguist in Canterbury, Dr. R.
Rost, with whom he corresponded between 1865 and 1879.
Another possibility is that they were meant as illustrations for articles in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in London.
TrObner, the editor of the journal, was his contact (Hinzler 1986:
4).
The drawings were made by artists from various parts of Bali.
We know the names and villages of origin of some of the artists, because they were written on the drawing paper. Of other
drawings we can deduce, on the basis of stylistic
characteristics, from which region of Bali the artists originate.
At least fourteen artists produced the drawings, ten of which were from North Bali. The name of one artist was discovered, thanks to a sketch and a drawing made by W.O.J.
Nieuwenkamp in 1904/1905. The drawing was published in his book "Bali and Lombok" (1906-1910: 111). The name of the painter he met in Singaraja in 1904 is I Ketoet (old spelling, now it would be Ketut) Gede (NION 1929: 14). Ketut admitted that he had worked for Van der Tuuk. It turned out that this man had
39
made a particular drawing for Van der Tuuk (LOr. 3390-185), a copy of which he kept in his domestic sanctuary. By means of comparison of style, it was possible to ascribe a large group of drawings, at least 92, to this artist. His drawings are very well done. The human figures, partly in wayang style, partly in
natural style, and the animals he depicted are very much alive, and have the vigour of the style of North Bali. His skill in
composition shows that he was used to painting on large objects, for instance on wood. A large drawing on a wooden back piece of a bale (parba), acquired by C.M. Pleyte for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 shows the same hand of
drawing as Ketoet Geda . Pleyte must have bought it on his trip to Bali around 1898-9. The caption of the photograph of the piece in the album published on the occasion of this event says:
"from Buleleng" (Pleyte 1901: No. 48). It is probable that Ketoet Geda worked for Van der Tuuk over a long period of time,
during which he developed his style. The drawings are
coloured, except for one sketch in pencil. He used watercolours, bright and light magenta, and very often bright and very dark Bordeaux-red. Moreover, light and dark blue, brown, turquoise, white, grey, black and sometimes also gold leaf which he
applied to representations of jewellery. He also often has a coloured background done in soft grey, green or blue, which is not found in traditional Balinese painting. In order to suggest the rounding of faces and limbs of human figures, he accentuated the outlines with a soft grey line. He certainly has to be
regarded as the first artist from Buleleng who introduced non- wayang style elements in his drawings.
Another group of North Balinese drawings consists of
ornaments, karang, provided with their names. Such ornaments are used in stone architecture, reliefs and statuary. They are important, because they give us insight in the terminology and thus symbolism of the ornaments, and also because they show us the styles typical of North Bali.
There are 183, probably 185 sheets (two have disappeared from the collection in Leiden) with in total 200 or 202 drawings,
some of them with more than one drawing on a sheet, that can be ascribed to North Bali. Part of the drawings are done in black and grey ink, others have been coloured with gouache. Most of the drawings are provided with inscriptions in Balinese script.
The texts inform us about the stories and the figures or objects depicted. The drawings may have been meant as illustrations of Van der Tuuk's Kawi-Balinese-Dutch Dictionary (printed .
posthumously in four volumes between 1897 and 1912), because there are references in it 'to the drawings'. He may have wanted to add 'explanatory plates' to his dictionary, as he had done in his Batak-Dutch Dictionary from 1861.
The subjects of the drawings are scenes from Old Javanese poems and prose works, Ramayana, Uttarakanda,
Bharatayuddha, Arjunawiwaha, Adiparwa, Tantri, from Balinese poems, from daily life, and depictions of ornaments used in
carvings in volcanic stone and wood. The style of the figures is linked to that of wayang puppets, the so-called wayang style.
The backgrounds of some of the drawings are like those of the wayang style paintings on cloth, but a great number, in
particular from North Bali, show innovations, influenced by European paintings, drawings, engravings or prints.
The drawings are made on laid paper. The size of most of the paper is foolscap (about 34 x 43 cm). It almost always has marks (watermarks and countermarks). Some of them, English paper, have dates, 1881, 1882. It is probable that Van der Tuuk himself gave the paper to the artists because for the
transcriptions of most of the Old Javanese and Balinese texts copied by himself or by his scribes, he used the same paper as for the drawings. Paper was not yet commonly used by the Balinese at that time, and it was scarce.
The pictures of the drawings shown at the exhibition are all but one made on paper by the factory of Jan, Claes and Aris van der Ley in Zaandijk (Voorn 1960). The watermark is a Dutch lion with a sword in a crowned medallion with an inscription. This is either "pro patria eendragt maakt magt" (abbreviated in my
41
descriptions as Pro Patria} or "concordia res parvae crescunt"
(abbreviated as Concordia). The countermark is in all cases
"VdL", which stands for Van der Ley. Paper with the watermark Concordia was produced after 1845. Of the other watermark, it is only known that it was available in the second half of the 19th century (Voorn 1960: 135). One drawing, LOr. 3390-54} has the coat of arms of Amsterdam as watermark and "Van Gelder" as countermark. This paper is from the Dutch factory of Van
Gelder in Worms or Apeldoorn (Voorn 1960: 433-439, 488) and it was produced at the end of the 19th century.
All drawings from the Van der Tuuk Collection have been described and depicted in two volumes by H.I.R. Hinzler in 1986-7.
Literature:
Hinzler, H.I.R., Catalogue of Balinese Manuscripts in the library of the University of Leiden and other collections in The
Netherlands, Vol. I and II, Reproductions and Descriptions of the Balinse drawings from the Van der Tuuk Collection, E.J.
Brill/Leiden University Press, Leiden 1986 & 1987.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., Bali en Lombok, 3 Vols., Zwerver Uitgave, Edam, 1906-1910.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., ,Schetsen van Bali, Neder/andsch-/ndie Oud en Nieuw (N/ON) 14: 67-78, 1929.
Pleyte, C.M" Indonesian Art. Selected Specimens of Ancient and Modern Art and Handwork from the Dutch-Indies
Archipelago,The Hague, 1901.
Voorn, H., De Papiermolens in de Provincie Noord-Holland. De Geschiedenis van de Papierindustrie, I, Meyer, Wormerveer, 1960.
W.O.J. NIEUWENKAMP AND BALI
Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp (born 27 July 1874 in Amsterdam in The Netherlands, died 23 April 1950 in San Domenico di Fiesole in Italy) was a Dutch painter, woodcarver, graphic artist, illustrator, art collector and a lot more. He was a globetrotter and the region he favoured mostly was Asia. His device was in Latin 'Vagando Acquiro', 'while wandering, I acquire (knowledge, ideas)'. The name of his houseboat was, not a surprise, 'De Zwerver', The Wanderer'. He visited The Indies six times between 1898 and 1937, which resulted in numerous drawings, etchings, prints, paintings and books, which he edited himself.
During his travels he made extensive notes and sketches in small and large booklets, which he worked out later in his artistic work and books. He gives us a picture of the way of
living and thinking, of the rituals and the arts of the people in the countries visited by him. It differs from what an ethnologist,
anthropologist, art historian or civil servant charged with a survey would write or report in the early 1900s, because he perceived with the eyes and the mind of an artist. The beauty of what he saw made a deep impression on him.
Nieuwenkamp is imJ?ortant for our knowledge of Bali at the beginning of the 20 century. He paid long visits to the island in 1904, 1906-7, 1917-19, 1935 and 1937. On 4 April 1904,
during his first visit, he wrote: 'there are so many beautiful
things to see and to portray, which have not yet been noticed as beautiful, let alone discussed. Therefore I have decided to make a book with plates about Bali, the loveliest land I know'. This would become the album 'Bali en Lombok' _ The first part of it appeared in the beginning of 1906.
He travelled by bike, on foot, on horseback; he stayed with
Dutch civil servants, in pasanggrahans, in palaces, but also in a makeshift tent covering his camp bed. It appears that he was
43
the first person in North Bali riding a bike. The people of Kubutambahan were so surprised, that they depicted
Nieuwenkamp, with a moustache and a topee, on a relief of the Pura Madue Karang.
Extensive preparations were made before embarking on his travels. He read about culture, religion, history and literature of Bali as far as available at that time. The Balinese drawings on paper commissioned by H.N. van der Tuuk between about 1880 and 1894 from the Leiden University Library (Cod. LOr. 3390, 1- 307), were studied so thoroughly by him in 1903, that he was able to reproduce and draw them effortlessly like a Balinese, according to Rouffaer in his preface to Nieuwenkamp's first Bali album (Nieuwenkamp 1906: VII). His Balinese hosts were very much impressed by it. It is not impossible that this was the main reason why they treated him differently. During his first and second visit to Bali, Nieuwenkamp had contact with North Balinese artists who worked for Van der Tuuk. He bought drawings from them. This is important for my personal quest (Hinzler 1986-7) to find out more about these artists. When he visited the house of a woodcarver in Singaraja, he noticed a drawing of a 'palm-wine tapper in a tree' in the domestic
sanctuary of the family. It resembled one of the drawings from the Van der Tuuk Collection (Cod. Or. 3390-185). It turned out, that the carver's father, I Ketoet Gede, had made the drawing.
He confirmed that he had worked for Van der Tuuk (Nieuwenkamp 1906-1910: 111,231-232).
The second trip to Bali coincided partly with the Dutch military expedition to Badung and Tabanan in 1906. On July 6, he had permission to travel on board of one of the ships on their way to
Bali, but he was not allowed to go ashore during the landing or
in case of danger. He did not want to wait any longer, so he went by himself from Surabaya straight to North Bali by the end of July. In September, however, he met the Dutch in Denpasar.
When he noticed that wooden parts of gamelan instruments were being used as firewood, both by the Dutch and the
Balinese, he stopped them and rescued the beautifully carved
pieces. In the Dutch newspaper "Algemeen Handelsblad" he wrote articles about the destruction of the palaces and the killings, puputan, in a very critical way (Algemeen Handelsblad 24 December 1906, 15 January 1907). While walking around, he discovered the large bronze kettledrum, the 'Moon of Pejeng' in the Ubud region (18 Octobert906).Hemade sketches,
drawings and rubbings of it, which he-worked
out
later in the form of woodcarvings. In May1925, he visited the Ubud region again. He was the first person to make drawings of the then recently (1922 or 1923) discovered rock carvings and sanctuary of Goa Gajah near Bedulu (Nieuwenkamp 1925).During his five travels to Bali, Nieuwenkamp ordered and
bought drawings, objects, woodcarvings, doors, baskets, textile for museums and institutions in The Netherlands, Germany and Austria, and for his private collection. Because the origin of the pieces and in quite some cases the makers and artists are named, and because the process of manufacture is well
documented in his diaries as well as his books and articles, the collection is very important.
About his importance for North Bali: Nieuwenkamp made sketches, and produced woodcarvings, etchings, and a few paintings of temples, gateways, views, ships, people, textile and dancers. He also ordered photographs via professional
photographers. So far, a great number - not all of them- of his sketches and drawings have only been reproduced in his books and articles, which, by the way, were published in Dutch. It was oniy in 1998 that an English edition appeared about the 'First European Artist in Bali' with reproductions of a selection of 321 drawings made during his whole career, 197 of which are
pertaining to Bali (Carpenter 1997). No separate issue exists yet on his work done in North Bali. The Foundation Museum W.O. J. Nieuwenkamp based in The Netherlands, has as one of its aims to document all his works, describe them in a data
base, and show them in a virtual museum.
45
Bibliography:
Carpenter, B., W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, First European Artist in Bali, Uniepers, Abcoude, 1997.
Hinzler, H.I.R., Catalogue of Balinese Manuscripts in the Library of the University of Leiden and other Collections in The Netherlands, Part I, Reproductions of the Balinese drawings from the Van der Tuuk Collection, Vol. II, Descriptions of the Balinese drawings form the Van der Tuuk Collection, Codices Manuscripti XXII, XXIII, E.J. Brill/Leiden University Press, Leiden, 1986, 1987.
Juynboll, H.H., Supplement op den Catalogus van de Javaansche en Madoereesche Handschriften der Leidsche Universiteits-Bibliotheek, II, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1911
Nieuwenkamp, W.OIJ., Diary notes, 1904, 1918
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., Bali en Lombok, album 1, beginning 1906; album 2, January 1909; albums 1,2,3, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1910.
Nieuwenkamp,W.O.J. Zwerftochten op Bali, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1910.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., Zwerftochten op Bali, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1922.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., De Olifantsgrot bij Bedoeloe op Bali, Nederlandsch Indie Oud en Nieuw, No. 10, 1925: 333-341.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., Bouwkunst van Bali, H.P. Leopolds, Den Haag, 1926.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., Beeldhouwkunst van Bali, H.P. Leopolds, Den Haag, 1928.
Nieuwenkamp, Boukunst en Beeldhouwkunst van Bali, H.P. Leopolds, Den Haag, 1947.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J. (grandson), Leven & Werken, Bouwen & Zwerven van de kunstenaar W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, opgetekend door zijn kleinzoon, A.W. Bruna &
Zoon, Utrecht, 1979.
DRAWINGS
BY
W.O.J. NIEUWENKAMP, IN NORTH BALIPamrajan I Ketut Gede, Singaraja, maker of drawings for H.N. van der Tuuk between 18]0-94, Ni·euwenkamp 1904
'Ida Nyoman Karang:1 fromGria Gedein Sawan was punggawa
(districts head) of this reag'ion at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was a woodcarver himself :and many men from the neighbourhood worked for him. In 1904
he decided to' make a new entrance to his gria and renovate his domestic sanctuary. Nieuwenkamp witnessed the beginning of the building of the gateway and later, in 1906, he saw the gate again when it was finished. He made many drawings of the buildings ,and statues in the gria.The-gate and the domestic sanctuary were also shown on the first postcard album made by Visser in Batavia around the 1920.
47
eY.A INGANG TOT HET WOONERF VAN DEN POENGGAWA TE SAWAN
. . . .. .
Ida Njoman Karang, entrance Gria Gede, 1906
gate to domestic santuary under Construction, 1904
postcards of entrance gate to pamrajan and shrine with statues of Siwa and Wisnu
49
FIRST BIKE IN NORTH BALI
15 February 1904, WOJ had just arrived in Priok, Java. He went to his hotel, but had to return to the harbour the next day, to pay import tax for his bike, 7 Dutch guilders. On March 18th, 1904 he arrived in Bali. He stayed in the house of the Resident. The next day he went by bike to the harbour, and made drawings of the temple, Pura Segara, close to the beach. During all his visits to Bali in the coming years he would make new sketches of this small temple with its characteristic split gateway, that was rebuilt several times.
Nieuwenkamp wrote about his bike the following in his notes:
Starting from Singaraja, I made many trips in the surroundings, on foot, on horseback, but also by bike. I took this bike with me from Holland. It was the first time that Balinese saw a bicycle.
Wherever I passed on this vehicle, I caused a real turmoil and panic. Men and women stopped along the roads staring at me in awe. Some took refuge at the roadside, others sat down and made a sembah. Some women dropped the stuff they were carrying on their heads. Children, cattle, pigs, ducks and
chicken ran away as soon as they noticed me. No wonder that this terrible white creature on this monster on wheels was
depicted on a relief of a temple. It was the Pura Madue Karang in Kubutambahan in north-east Bali.
The first version of man-on-a-bike, being WOJ Nieuwenkamp, was made before 1906. When Nieuwenkamp returned to Bali in 1906, he went to see it. It shows a European man, wearing a coat, trousers, and with a tropical helmet on his head, on a bike.
It was depicted in Katz (1929) and in a Dutch Newspaper in 1928. The temple, however, was damaged as a result of the earthquake of 1917, and was restored afterwards. Parts of the relief, which was probably also damaged, were replaced. The newer version shows a Balinese man with a Balinese
headcloth, riding a bike. The front wheel has flowers instead of spokes, and the back wheel consists of one large sunflower In
between is a small round object with a pedal. There is no chain.
Nieuwenkamp himself saw the new version of the relief only in 1925 at his fourth visit to Bali. (One must conclude that Katz and the author of the newspaper were not aware of the new version). During this visit in 1925 Nieuwenkamp again was
riding a bike.
He wrote in 1925, that he really had been very happy using a bike in North Bali, despite the fact that there were only a few roads in the surroundings of Singaraja, suitable for it. There was one road to the passangrahan in Bubunan in the west, and one to the east up to the passanggrahan in Tejakula. When he left Bali, 28 May 1825, he took his bike with him.
fIrst version, before 1917 with frightened cattle and barking dogs and detail in Katz.
51
second version, photograph taken in 1925 bikes in Bali in the 1920s
FIRST CAR IN NORTH BALI
25 Januari 1913, a car, English, model Waltham, arrived in Bali.
It was ordered in Java by the controleur of Singaraja. An engineer, -Mr. Jonkhoff, was- representative.of Waltham motorcars in Sem.arang. At first the car was shipped from Surabaya to Benoa. Mr. Jonkhoff and Mr. Bouman from
Surabaya, accompanied it. As there was no proper harbour in South Bali, the car had to be put in a small ship, prau, and pushed to the beach. There it was carried and pushed to some kind of road. Mr. Dankmeyer, controleur of Tabanan, joined the two other men. The three of them undertook the journey to Singaraja. They had to take jerry cans with fuel with them, because there were no fuel pumps yet. It took them twelve hours. There were no bridges, one had to put wooden planks over ravines and rivers and push and draw to get the car to the other side. Often the car sunk deep in the mud, even one metre deep, but the population was very eager to help it out.
Everybody was rejoicing the arrival of the Waltham in Singaraja.
It was soon named the "Balinese Scout".
Immediately there were more orders for a car, first in North Bali:
the punggawa, the resident, and also a woman, Mrs Fatima, or Mbah Patimah. She was to become the first woman in the
whole of Bali with car rental, a travel, and souvenir shop.
Royalty in South Bali (Karangasem, Bangli, Gianyar) also ordered a car, and soon after proper roads and bridges were built. In 1919 renting and driving a car in Bali was already quite common, but one could also take one's own car from Java directly to Singaraja. (Wybrands, Tropenstijl, 1921 :88-9)
Cars also made a deep impression on the population in North Bali. A relief on the outer wall of the Pura Dalem in Jagaraga depicts a European man in an open car. In front of the car
another European is standing, holding a revolver. Is this the first hold up of a car? The filmer Andre Roosevelt, who was in Bali making a film, tells, according to a Dutch newspaper from 1928,
53
that this scene was probably influenced modern Chicago gangster films.
Literature
Sumatra Post, 7-2-1913
WYBRANDS, K., "Tropenstijl', Causerie~n en opstellen, N.v. Uitgevers-Mij
"Nederland", Amsterdam, 1921
car in Benoa
pieces. the Dutch newspaper "Alge een Handelsblad" he wrote artie s about the destruction of he palaces and the killings, pupu n, in a very critical wJ. (Algemeen Handelsblad 24 December 1 6, 15 January 19f:l7). While walking around, he discovered the I e bronze k~ttledrum, the 'Moon of Pejeng' in the Ubud region (1 ctober y906). He made sketches,
drawings and rubbings 0 ·t, wh·ch he worked out later in the form of woodcarvings. In 25, he visited the Ubud region again. He was the first perso 0 make drawings of the then recently (1922 or 1923) dis ve d rock carvings and sanctuary of Goa Gajah near Bedulu Nieuw kamp 1925).
During his five travels to ali, Nieuwen amp ordered and
bought drawings, objecl ,woodcarvings, oors, baskets, textile for museums and insti otions in The Nethe lands, Germany and Austria, and for his pr" ate collection. Beca e the origin of the pieces and in quite s me cases the makers a d artists are named, and beca . e the process of manufac re is well collection is very i portant.
About his import nce for North Bali: Nieuwenkamp made sketches, and p!oduced woodcarvings, etchings, and a few paintings of te~ples, gateways, views, ships, people, textile and dancers. He also ordered photographs via professional
photographers. So far, a great number - not all of them- of his sketches and drawings have only been reproduced in his books and articles, which, by the way, were published in Dutch. It was only in 1998 that an English edition appeared about the 'First European Artist in Bali' with reproductions of a selection of 321 drawings made during his whole career, 197 of which are
pertaining to Bali (Carpenter 1997). No separate issue exists yet on his work done in North Bali. The Foundation Museum W.O. J. Nieuwenkamp based in The Netherlands, has as one of its aims to document all his works, describe them in a data
base, and show them in a virtual museum.
45
DRAWINGS BY W.O.J. NIEUWENKAMP, IN NORTH BALI
11) •
YOLBRACHT! 25 Jan. 1913
Het huis van dEn controleur te Singa~dla
First car in Singaraja, 25 January 1913
55
car hold up, Pura Dalem, Jagaraga, newspaper clipping, Aigemeen Handelsblad, 10-7-1928
MRS FATIMA or PATIMAH - MBAH PATIMAH - FIRST TRAVEL AGENCY IN BALI
She was the first woman in North Bali with a car-rental, and souvenir shop annex coffee shop. She also was selling at annual markets in Java. Her name is mentioned from 1913 onwards in newspapers and travel guides.
There are stories about her past, and the reason why she settled in Singaraja, but there is no proof yet whether they are completely correct. Morzer Bruyns, employee of the KPM for tourism on Bali writes in 1930: " when Klungkung was
vanquished by the Dutch troups in 1908, its king ordered his entourage to kill themselves, to commit suicide (mabela, masatya, puputan). Mbah Patimah, however, was at that
moment in Buleleng, and did not want to follow this order of the king". She apparently was one of the king's minor wives, mekel Rai, who had escaped to, or happened to be in Buleleng in 1908. She married a Muslim and from then onwards she was called Mbah Fatima, or Patimah.
After the intruduction of the car in Bali in 1913, she was among the first persons, and also the first woman, to order a Waltham car. She had a car-rental and souvenir shop which was located in a square in Surapati Street, just after the bridge, coming from the harbour. Famous visitors and (Dutch) painters rented a car, a.o. Rabindranath Tagore with German painter Walter Spies;
Dutch painters Marius Bauer and C. Dake jr. in 1927; Dutch painter Isaac Israels in 1928.
The KPM-Travel Guide from 1922 informs us that there was a representative of the Official Tourist Agency in Singaraja. Those who wanted to buy Balinese textiles or silver souvenirs from Bratan (then a centre of silver- and goldsmiths) had to contact Patimah. The same is written in the English version of the KPM- Travel Guide from 1930: "Those, wishing to inspect Balinese weaving, should apply to Patimah, a local saleswoman".
57
In 1928 she and a dealer from Denpasar had a stand at the Second Year Market in Yogyakarta. Textiles, cloth paintings, baskets, wooden statues and silver jewellery were sold by her, according to the Sumatra Post.
In the Dutch version of the KPM Travel Guide of 1930, Morzer Bruyns writes: "Mbah Patimah is now one of Bali's most wealthy women, dealing in Balinese silver- and gold, silks, textile with gold- and silver thread, krisses and other handicrafts. She also has a car rental. All tourists to Bali (arriving via Singaraja's
harbour by ship) must have visited her. We are always received well by her and she offers us a cup of coffee before letting us
go". He also informs us that she her workshops of silver- and
goldsmiths and weavers in Bratan could be visited by tourists.
In later literature, there is no information about her any more.
What happened? Did she stop her business? Did she die? Who can tell us?
Literature:
Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij, Per K.P.M. naar Bali het toeristenoord, 1922: 28 Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij, KPM to Bali, 1930: 27
Marzer Bruyns, A., Beschrijving van een tocht door Bali, in: Bali, uitgegeven door de Officieele Vereeniging vootr Toeristenverkeer in Nederlandsch-Indie", Batavia -Java, 1930, pp.68-87.
Sumatra Post, 19-7-1928
BunONS AND JACKETS
Large, round buttons, made of gold and silver coins, became fashionable at the beginning of the twentieth century among Balinese in North Bali. No jacket, baju or blouse is without them.
Van der Tuuk (1894) mentions in his dictionary that buttons, krongsang/kersang/keronsang were already used by pranakan cina ati-ati and muslims. They were made of gold, or a kind of gold, some types were also imported from Singapore, and did cost 3 souvereigns a pair. Women wearing a "baju" could also use 'krongsang', which is a kind of button made of fake coins.
("krongsang" seems to refer to the sound of coins in one's bag of hands.) These observations refer to the end of the nineteenth century. Important Balinese, royalty, punggawa, had pictures taken of themselves and their families already around in the 1870s. The men often are wearing a short coat or jacket with buttons, or a kind of shirt with buttons with an open coat or jacket with buttons. Looking at the drawings made for the
dictionary, there is only one (Or. 3390-256, bottom, ascribed to I Ketut Gede from Singaraja) depicting men wearing shirts with small buttons. They indeed represent Muslims and Chinese in North Bali.
Wood statues, made in North Bali, for an exhibition of "dolls" in traditional costumes from all over the country to be held in
Batavia in 1894, also show Balinese noblemen wearing shirts with buttons. These dolls were shortly after this event offered to the Dutch Queen Emma and are now kept in the
Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. A wayang figure of a Gde
Baragan - a clownish foreigner with a horse's head- of the set made in 1898-99 by dalang Ida Putu Sweca from Banjar for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, also has large buttons on his long coat. Drawings from Wayan Dasta and from the dalang of Banyuning bought by W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp in 1906-7, and photographs of the same period of ordinary Balinese, made in Buleleng, show men and women wearing shirts with large,
59
round, buttons. The members of the Gong Agung orchestra from North Bali performing at the Annual Market in Surabaya in
1906 all wear dark, European, jackets with large buttons, even the four young boys playing the reyong. J.Valk who was in Tabanan, wrote in an article for a Dutch newspaper in 1908: " a Balinese nobleman, visiting our military camp every now and then, is wearing a jacket with a row of golden buttons made from English pounds sterling. Ordinary, poorer, Balinese
exchange jackets-with-brass-military-buttons of our soldiers for a few chicken".
The button fashion continued in the following years. Wooden statues, from North and South Bali, representing Balinese in traditional costumes show them wearing also shirts and jackets with large, golden buttons. A Balinese gentleman depicted
(around 1928) in stone on the wall surrounding Pura Dalem, Jagaraga, even has a round watch with a chain hanging from his breast pocket. Also in later periods, important persons, even a resi, Kesawa, playing a role in a story based on an Old-
Javanese text (Kakawin Sutasoma) is depicted wearing a coat with buttons over his Balinese clothes which are depicted in wayang style (col. World Museum Rotterdam, No. 65412). This was a creation of Jro Dalang Diah from Nagasepa on a glass painting made in the 1980s. It seems that in particular North Balinese artists had a passion for buttons when they wanted to depict important, or foreign, characters.
Literature:
Valk, J., Bali in november 1908: Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 20-12-1908.
SHOES
Also new in North Bali, and depicted for the first time there,
were shoes. Chinese, Muslims and foreigners, in particular from Europe, were wearing shoes. At the end of the 19th century the same foreign persons wearing shirts and jackets were also wearing shoes. The Chinese and Muslims in drawing Or. 3390- 256 (made between 1880 and 1894 and ascribed to I Ketut Gede in 5ingaraja) are depicted with Chinese "tlumpah", or
"tarumpah", and the wayang figure of Gede Baragan made in 1898 or 1899 by the dalang from Banjar as well. Wayang figures from Bali, also 20th century ones, wearing shoes, are extremely rare. 50 far, only a figure representing a transvestite dancer, formerly from a dalang in Ringdikit (c. W.Angst, No. Ri 87), and a puppet of a Dutch solder with a gun, from a dalang in Tangguwisia (c. W. Angst, No. Tw 65), are depicted with shoes.
Both puppets were made after the 1950s.
61
BALliN PARIS, BUILDING A NORTH BALINESE TEMPLE IN PARIS
End March 1930 Mr. D. ROhl and Mr. P. van Leeuwen arrived in North Bali, They were invited to make drawings and casts of temples and their decorations, reliefs and statues in North Bali.
They "did" the Pura Dalem in Bakung and also parts of the Pura Dalem in Banyuning. They worked for four months. The plan was to construct a replica of a North Balinese temple at the World Exhibition in Paris to be held in 1931.
Het Balische plein. Cliche De Ingenieur.
the Balinese square in Paris
Balisch plein met poort i rechts klokketoren.
gateway and Bale Kulkul in Paris
drawing of a buta sungsang, Pura Dalem Banyuning by D. ROhl Literature
Bali en Parijs, Het nieuws van de dag voor Nederlandsch-Indie, 3-4-1930.
De Indische Courant, 11-8-1930
ROhl, D., Ornamentiek op Bali, Vorkink, Bandoeng, 1932.
63
WOODEN STATUES, LOWER PART OF THE LOTUS, WORLD EXHIBITION PARIS 1901
from left to right: Baruna (Tropen 15-170), Pamurtian Wisnu (Tropen 15-157), Siwa Mahadewa (Tropen 15-156), Yamaraja (Tropen 15-182a), back: right to left: Siwa Guru (Tropen 15- 158), Kala Rahu (Tropen 15-173a), Indra (Tropen 15-165), Pamurtian Brahma (Tropen 15-176) .
