The Seats of Honor, Chariots, and Ceremonial Entryways of Old Lampung
The Seats of Honor, Chariots, and Ceremonial Entryways of Old Lampung
Curated by Steven G. Alpert
Lampung is the southernmost province of the island of Sumatra. On maps, the province appears tooth-like with its rounded crown facing north and its three southeasterly peninsular tips tilting towards the Island of Java. Lampung is situated at a vital confluence of the Java Sea, the Sunda Straits, and the Indian Ocean. In geographic terms, the region is also well-known for having been deeply affected by one of the world's greatest and deadliest volcanic eruptions, Krakatau in 1883. Depending on how one divides the territory, there are nine main traditional groups that inhabit the province of Lampung. Three of these communities are often mentioned: the Abung in the west, the Pubian in the central corridor, and the coastal-dwelling Paminggir people. In describing areas in terms of the arts, distinctions have been made in the literature between 'mountain' or 'interior' peoples versus 'coastal communities', also known as the Pesisir (The word 'pesisir' means 'along the shoreline' in modern Bahasa Indonesia, Sundanese, and Javanese).
Culturally, the peoples of this province are Austronesian speakers of western Malayo-Polynesian descent. Though divided by geography and varying degrees of exposure to outside polities, the peoples of Lampung are linked by shared cultural practices. They are also linguistically related through variants of Lampungic languages, which are still spoken by more than 1.5 million people.
Historically, this region was under the suzerainty of Srivijaya, Indonesia's first powerful maritime empire, which stretched over a large portion of Southeast Asia from the 7th to the 11th centuries. Lampung was later incorporated into the great Majapahit empire in the 14th century, which once encompassed what constitutes most of modern Indonesia. Due to Lampung's strategic geographic and economic importance, local traditions were exposed to Buddhistic, Hindu, Islamic, and European concepts and trade goods over a long period of time. Starting in the 16th century as a coastal maritime religion, under the jurisdiction of the Sultanate of Banten, Islam began to slowly spread from the coast into the interior of South Sumatra. However, headhunting rituals, especially among the Abung, that were also associated with raising one's rank and status, persisted in the interior into the 19th century. (Marsden: 1811).
In the 17th century, the Dutch began to oversee extensive cultivation of black, Indian-derived pepper. The wealth generated by this commerce fueled the prosperity of the small kingdoms in the region. As the impact of courtly Islamic culture rose and Dutch hegemony grew, feasts of merit, where largesse was displayed and dispensed (Pepadun), evolved and then slowly diminished in their importance. Very few three-dimensional heirloom items stored in rumah pojeng or traditional treasure houses that were not perceived as consistent with the values of these two external forces have survived. What has been handed down to posterity, though, is a surprisingly large number of ceremonial textiles, many with designs that were in part perhaps inspired by the luxurious goods that were associated with the region's ruling classes (See: Eyes of the Ancestors, Nico de Jonge, p.p. 80-91, Steven Alpert, p.p. 92-115). It is also interesting to note that, as late as the 1930s, Lampung still accounted for around 30% of the world's pepper cultivation.
As mentioned, only a few singular examples of floral or figurative carving in wood from Lampung exist today. Most reside in museum collections. This month, our focus is on the richness of decorative Lampung wood carving. These items date from perhaps the late 17th century, but most likely are largely from the 18th-19th century. Three forms are illustrated: Sesako, or ritual backrests for wooden seats of honor, doors and panels from ceremonial gates, and finials from ritual conveyances. These works once embellished and bore witness to affairs of state, status raising events, and rites of passage ceremonies (Pepadun).
The earliest preserved sesako in a museum is a gem example and one of the prides of the Museum Nasional Indonesia in Jakarta. It was accessioned in 1868 and displays a central celestial symbol amid a foliate ascension that is reminiscent of a Javanese kalpataru or tree of life topped by a human-like face. Other interior representations may depict hornbills, which are symbols of the upper world and bravery, harkening back to the ethos of a headhunter or valiant warrior. The sides are bound with a pair of attached panels depicting a vigorous pair of naga-like creatures. Local beliefs attributed supernatural abilities to these dragons. This included their ability to warn their owners of impending harm or imminent danger. It appears that celestial dragons were absorbed early on from Chinese and Southeast Asian models (as well as the variants of powerful serpent-like creatures from Indian mythology). These most likely merged with an age-old reverence for local giant underworld serpents, the quakers of the earth. Such animals and their evolving semiotics enrich sesako and other carved items in wood, as well as the varied textile traditions for which Lampung is renowned.
Other beautifully embellished, carved seat backs include naga variants, diverse creatures from the upper and lower worlds, protective faces, or figures of powerful beings (Kala), all enveloped in foliate and arboreal designs. These motifs appear on Sesako or seat fragments in the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (not pictured), as well as in the Yale University Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Musée du quai Branly.
In the same vein, ritual carriages (Gerobak Pangkeng or Kereta Kencana) marked the path of princes, warriors, hallowed guests, and high aristocrats during rites of passage or other title-raising ceremonies. The grandeur of these ceremonial conveyances magnified or marked in processions a person's transition from one state to another. They often displayed composite mythical animals and creatures associated with aristocratic title holders. These carts only survive as models in the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, or in carriage fragments that have miraculously survived. As ultimate symbols of status and prestige, a complete chariot must have been an imposing sight. Three significant elements or finials are featured here. Two are stewarded by the Yale University Art Gallery. The other is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Each is a powerful rendering of a stalwart hornbill.
A brief description of Lampung wooden artifacts would not be complete without mentioning the elaborately carved ceremonial gates known as Lawang Kori. Their nomenclature and style of carving, as well as certain motifs and indeed their religio-magical values, such as those found on sesako, hark back to earlier classical periods that utilized Hindu-Buddhist-inspired aesthetics. The name 'Lawang Kori' or 'a closed gate or doorway', is a term for an entryway of high status that is mutually intelligible from South Sumatra to Bali, where gates, including the more massive stone or brick Kori Agung, are still situated in front of temples and palaces. Such ornamental entryways underscore the nexus of relationships within a community and the duly defined order or orientation of all things situated between heaven and earth, a ruler and his people.
Related carving is also found in a few early mosques and palaces situated along the North coast of Java that can be said to reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the region's port cities. Not simply trade goods, but concepts ranging from folkloric stories to courtly traditions emanated not only from the Sultanate of Banten, but also from other great trading entrepôts. Along with the dispensation of titles and new privileges via Banten, wood carving and other art forms flourished through the period of Dutch hegemony and annexation of Lampung in the 19th century.
A remarkably insightful article by Mohammad Ali Fadillah takes a deep look at one particular lawang kori from Gedongwani, East Lampung. As an Islamic scholar (Mufti Ali) and an academic, Drs. Fadillah explores the rich history and tradition surrounding one surviving gateway. His article, entitled: Elements of Bantanese, Javanese and Balinese Art carved on Lawang Kori Gedongwani in East Lampung, Indonesia (PURBAWIDAYA: Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Arkeologi, Vol. 13 (1), June 2024, p.p. 1-25), is an essential read for anyone wanting to learn more deeply about the historical crosscurrents and the importance of lawang kori both in a local and pan-Indonesian context.
The lawang kori from Gedongwani is complete. The only other complete gate that is currently known to me is housed in the Yale University Art Gallery. This piece and the sesako pictured here, with the exception of the Museum Nasional Indonesia's example, were acquired by Anita Spertus and Jeff Holmgren, well-known experts on the subject, whose material from Lampung now populates a number of museums.
Yale recently added images of the 'wings' that were once attached to the double-doored frame of a lawang kori. Calling them wings seems appropriate as they resemble the Garuda bird's spreading pinions, a motif that is also found on Javanese and Balinese gates and entryways. Here, foliate scrolls dominate. Along the outer edging are two distinct diamond forms (wajik) that depict a four-petaled flower. The design concept is said to have been 'adopted from a type of traditional food made from sticky rice'. (Fadillah: 2022). Additionally, the top depicts two serpentine lower-world creatures alongside their upper-world pairing with hornbills. Smaller border devices composed of triangles and rhomboids also commonly appear on both Javanese and Balinese doors (mas-masan).
Lastly, a pair of doors from the inner part of another lawang kori, currently stewarded by the Art Gallery of South Australia, are replete with flowering foliate patterns set within raised hexagons and rhomboids. The inner panels are framed by unfurling foliage. Bordering the top and bottom are tapering triangular buds, similar to those found on textiles, which are routinely known as tumpals. Hidden within the lowest hexagonal quadrant of the panel is a pair of tigers. As the always-present but seldom-seen guardians of the forests, the tiger is a noble animal associated with the aristocracy.
While inspired by earlier periods, the existence of wooden seats of honor, carriages, and elaborate entryways in Lampung is based on Javanese models. In these items, one appreciates a melange of ancient and folkloric traditions; elements of Panji stories commingling with concepts from Hindu-Buddhist sources. At the same time, the conference of courtly titles and the accumulation of generous wealth by local rulers from the pepper trade eventually opened pathways that facilitated the spread of Islamic culture in Lampung from the coast into the interior. In conclusion, the woodcarving traditions, especially elaborate gates and entryways from Lampung, are special reminders that reflect Indonesia's unique brand of syncretism and time-honored sense of beauty.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
Ceremonial Seat of Honor | Sesako
Lampung
Wood
610
© Museum Nasional Indonesia