A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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Beautiful, detailed silverwork! Thanks for showing us some Indonesian pieces - you do not get to see them very often... Regards, Betty
Beautiful piece Peter. As always you show us great treasures thanks for that
Dear Mustafa and Betty; Many thanks for your messages - much appreciated. With kind regards. Peter
I feel about 90% certain that this was made by the Straits Chinese. Note, not 100% - and I am willing to be persuaded that I am wrong, but I feel pretty confident about the identity of this.
Peter, what a wonderful collection of southeast Asian belts! They're not easy to come by. I saw a few samples at the museum of Islamic arts in Kuala Lumpur and there are few nielloed ones that are exquisite.
I thought of going through my books to read up more about these, but sadly haven't gotten around to it it. In the meantime, here's an image of similar work from Anne Richter's book on the Jewellery of SouthEast Asia. She captions this as "Gold belt and buckle of the type traditionally worn by Muslim brides in Aceh, Indonesia, but also adopted by Chinese women in north Sumatra adn elsewhere, c.1920. The pierced openwork panels depict a peacock perched amid leaves and peonies. Some peacock belts were set with diamonds. Occasionally a different bird is depicted in each panel."
Fantastic. What an unbelievable skill. I always love the Indonesian table silver as well with similar work called Djogja silver. Thank you for showing. Gr. Ingrid.
The piece above, I should re-iterate, is an example of Straits Chinese silver - not Indonesian. It was (sometimes still is?) worn on the Malaysian Peninsula. The Richter belt below is also very much congenial to a Chinese taste, but in the case of the interconnection between Sumatra and the Malaysian Peninsula one comes across examples worn in both places. Of course the Straits Chinese are in a sense "bi-cultural": Chinese and Indonesian, but with an aesthetic largely their own, and peculiar to their specific area (i.e.the Malaysian Peninsula). Aceh is far north in Sumatra, so that is so to speak border-line, culturally, in the case of a piece as strongly "in tune with" a Chinese aesthetic as the Richter piece is. There definitely is overlap in both directions, also in the case of e.g. niello belt buckles. The best way to get to know Straits Chinese jewellery is through the two books I mentioned before, though it is even better to visit Singapore, Malacca, Penang, etc, where pieces of the kind Peter has so kindly posted can still be seen. Alas, not as often as about thirty years ago, when Truus and I still saw scores of them in the places mentioned, and both in shops and museums (also in Kuala Lumpur, of course, though Malacca and Singapore are more "Chinese"). However, the books I mentioned both do show many Straits Chinese pieces, and do teach one to distinguish them from Indonesian ones. Even Richter (whom I know and respect) is not as strong on Straits Chinese pieces as she is on Indonesian ones, and the various Ghysels books get matters badly muddled up. Interestingly the two Straits Chinese books are not at all well known, which is one reason why Straits Chinese jewellery so often gets confused with Indonesian material. Not so by London dealer Michael Backman, by the way, who knows Straits Chinese material very well - this is one area of jewellery where people who regularly visit Malaysia and Singapore are usually the best informed, other than of course those who themselves live in that part of the world! See also some examples in Truus's book, *Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment*, p. 199 ff, of pieces exhibiting strong Straits Chinese taste.
PS: To be as clear as I can be, the piece which Preethi so helpfully posted should be seen as "Indonesian made", but "in a taste which is congenial to that of the Straits Chinese as well as Sumatrans" (and as Richter says, it was certainly not only worn by Indonesian women in Sumatra but also Chinese ones). The other pieces which Peter posted are more straightforwardly and unambiguously "Straits Chinese", i.e. almost certainly made by that particular ethnic group (mostly in Malaysia), which still had a strong Chinese aesthetic to build on, but was also influenced by traditional Indonesian work. It is a kind of hybrid culture, but quite distinct from any specifically Indonesian one.
Thanks Joost for this interesting information and for the references. I will order the Richter book to see if this will clarify further. I had a look at Michael Backman's website today and he has a number of items, as you indicated, that he lists as Straits Chinese. I was interested to see that at least two of them are captioned 'imported from China for the Straits Chinese'. So imports and well as locally made items? And made in a particular style by the Chinese for the Straits Chinese market? I must admit that the two items tagged were not items of jewellery but nevertheless seem to indicate a slightly different aesthetic.
Thelma, - Thanks for your comment. I am not sure I understand your point. Surely it is logical for people of Chinese descent to take an interest in things from China? I would myself describe these as "imported from China for the Chinese Straits community", and distinguish them from those actually made by that community. Do you think that would answer your question? The imports were either simply Chinese or specially made for the Straits Chinese. Perhaps that should be added, where known, and that may have been Michael's point, I suppose?
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