Material: Silver, stones
Style: Kraton, Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia
Size: Belt: Height 7 cm, Length 45 cm;  Middle buckle:  Height 12 cm, Width 5.5 cm
Order Number: MHSTAJKBB1

Antique set of belt buckles for ceremonial dress, with dense floral motifs, set with hand-cut faceted clear stones. The stones are likely to be low grade Borneo diamonds.

These buckles were worn in the 19th century kratons (courts) of central Java, particularly at Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo).

They were formal court dress for male courtiers and nobles,  worn on the waist on a velvet belt over an embroidered black velvet jacket and a sarong with patterns exclusively reserved for aristocrats.

These buckles are still worn on formal occasions.

19th – early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Javanese Kraton Belt Buckles appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Gold, palm leaf
Style: Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Size: Height 8.5 cm, Length 19 cm
Order Number: MHSAMS1

Songko are Buginese male moslem hats.This one has gold and would have been owned by royalty.

Islam was introduced by Minangkabau missionaries from Sumatra and a history of extensive Malay settlement in the major trading city of Makassar, now Ujung Pandang, in the south.

Makassar, the capital of the kingdom of Gowa, was an important entrepot for cloves and nutmeg traded from the very small islands of  Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas. The city also became a city of Islamic scholarship.

There is a photograph of a man wearing a similar one in The Jewelry of Southeast Asia, Ann Richter, Thames & Hudson, 2000, page 171.

80-90 years old.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Makassar Songko 1 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Gold, palm leaf
Style: Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Size: Height 9 cm, Length 18 cm
Order Number: MHSAMS2

Songko are Buginese male moslem hats. This one has gold and would have been owned by royalty.

Islam was introduced by Minangkabau missionaries from Sumatra and a history of extensive Malay settlement in the major trading city of Makassar, now Ujung Pandang, in the south.

Makassar, the capital of the kingdom of Gowa, was an important entrepot for cloves and nutmeg traded from the very small islands of  Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas. The city also became a city of Islamic scholarship.

There is a photograph of a man wearing a similar one in The Jewelry of Southeast Asia, Ann Richter, Thames & Hudson, 2000, page 171.

80-90 years old.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Makassar Songko 2 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver buckle, padded ikat belt with coloured glass
Style: Minangkabau, West Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Buckle: length 25 cm, width 12 cm; Belt: length 70 cm, width 12.5 cm
Order Number: TACD0

The waist buckle (pending) was a part of Malay ceremonial dress and displayed the wearer’s social status, worn mostly by men, but occasionally by women, above the navel, with a cloth sash and belt to hold up the sarong, at ceremonial events, especially weddings. The back had a clasp attached to the belt and it was shaped like a lozenge, usually with pointed ends.

The buckle was made of brass, silver or gold. Royalty wore gold buckles decorated with precious stones. Rich, but non-royal people, wore silver. The rest wore brass.

The idea probably came from the Ottoman Empire, which traded with  the Sultan of Aceh and other sultans in the area.

Typically the pattern is a central circle, with surrounding  foliate motifs, all within an outer border at the edge of the buckle. The central eye may be a talisman to ward off the evil eye, the very central part resembling the pupil.

The Mingangkabau people live in the inland mountainous regions and hills and plains around Padang on the west coast of Sumatra. They claim descent from Alexander the Great. They are one of the world’s few matrilinear societies. Women inherit titles of nobility, houses and rice fields. It is also deeply Islamic.

Ceremonies are important and frequent, and magnificent ceremonial dress is worn. Islam began to spread into Sumatra in the late 13th century and the influence is seen in the arabesques and foliage.

There are many examples in Malay Silver and Gold, Courtly Splendour from Indonesia, Malayasia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, Michael Backman, River Books, 2024, pages 214-223.

The chapter entitled Malay Waist Buckles, Allegories of Paradise, says at page 216, ‘Almost all are chased and engraved with motifs which can be interpreted as a stylised version of Paradise. This is a new way of looking at the iconography of the Malay buckle, but it is entirely plausible. Vegetation and gardens are all redolent of light, and for many Muslims, light is an extension of God, while vegetation and gardens  – so dependent on light – are by implication an extension.’

Islam began to spread into Sumatra in the late 13th century and the influence is seen in the arabesques and foliage.

Niello was a specialty. The metalwork is very fine. The decorative patterns are cut into the front surface of the silver. The background is then cut back further, roughened and filled with a preparation of lead, copper, silver and sulphur in powder form, which melts when heated.

Polishing helps in creating a smooth surface of black and silver. Sumatran niello often has a very grey color and great sheen because there is a high silver content. Niello work was carried out in Sumatra until the early 20th century, but very little is produced now.

Impressive size and exquisite niello work make this an outstanding example of a Minangkabau man’s belt or ikek pinggang. The padded ikat belt is still attached, which is rare. One or more layered central plaques in the buckle mark the social status of the owner.

There is a similar belt and buckle in Walk in Splendour, Ceremonial Dress and the Minangkabau, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1999, (Fig 5.46, page 95).

19th century – early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Belt and Buckle appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Silver
Style: Minangkabau, West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Size: Length 22 cm, Width 13.5 cm
Order Number: MHSTACD0

The waist buckle (pending) was a part of Malay ceremonial dress and displayed the wearer’s social status, worn mostly by men, but occasionally by women, above the navel, with a cloth sash and belt to hold up the sarong, at ceremonial events, especially weddings. The back had a clasp attached to the belt and it was shaped like a lozenge, usually with pointed ends.

The buckle was made of brass, silver or gold. Royalty wore gold buckles decorated with precious stones. Rich, but non-royal people, wore silver. The rest wore brass.

The idea probably came from the Ottoman Empire, which traded with  the Sultan of Aceh and other sultans in the area.

Typically the pattern is a central circle, with surrounding  foliate motifs, all within an outer border at the edge of the buckle. The central eye may be a talisman to ward off the evil eye, the very central part resembling the pupil.

The Mingangkabau people live in the inland mountainous regions and hills and plains around Padang on the west coast of Sumatra. They claim descent from Alexander the Great. They are one of the world’s few matrilinear societies. Women inherit titles of nobility, houses and rice fields. It is also deeply Islamic.

Ceremonies are important and frequent, and magnificent ceremonial dress is worn. Islam began to spread into Sumatra in the late 13th century and the influence is seen in the arabesques and foliage.

There are many examples in Malay Silver and Gold, Courtly Splendour from Indonesia, Malayasia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, Michael Backman, River Books, 2024, pages 214-223.

The chapter entitled Malay Waist Buckles, Allegories of Paradise, says at page 216, ‘Almost all are chased and engraved with motifs which can be interpreted as a stylised version of Paradise. This is a new way of looking at the iconography of the Malay buckle, but it is entirely plausible. Vegetation and gardens are all redolent of light, and for many Muslims, light is an extension of God, while vegetation and gardens  – so dependent on light – are by implication an extension.’

Early 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

The post Antique Sumatran Belt Buckle 6 appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Material: Wood, buffalo hide membrane
Style: Sumatra
Size: Height 10 cm, Width 27 cm, Circumference 88 cm
Order Number: G21

Rebana are frame-drums, which means that the diameter of the head is greater than the depth of the body.

Rebana have tubular bodies, of wood or metal, this one being made of wood, and a membrane covering only one end.

They are closely associated with Islam and are played at Muslim weddings and other ceremonies. The drummers are usually male and generally sing as they drum.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).

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