Zwolle: WBooks; Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 2012. 144 p., ill.

ISBN 978-90-400-0360-8*

From April 21 to November 4, the Municipal Museum of The Hague (Gemeentemuseum den Haag) held an exhibition "Gold of Java" with unique jewelry items of the capital island of Indonesia from its collections. To inform visitors, a peer-reviewed catalog was published, authored by Pauline Lunsingh Scherlser, a major connoisseur of Southeast Asian art and former curator of the South and Southeast Asian collections of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

The catalog consists of three parts: "Introduction to the era of Indo-Buddhist culture in Indonesia", "Java as an island of gold", "Objects from the Municipal Museum of The Hague". It is preceded by a foreword by museum Director Benno Tempel. Footnotes and references are provided at the end of the monograph. The text of the book is duplicated in Dutch and English in two columns. This makes it easier for non-Dutch-speaking readers to get acquainted with ^the catalog1.

The first part opens with a short essay "Acquaintance with Javanese antiquities", which tells about the history of collecting ancient monuments by the Dutch, the activities of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences ², the State Museum of Antiquities (Leiden)³, the Commission of Antiquities ⁴, the Archaeological Service ⁵ and the transfer of the Javanese collection from the State Museum of Antiquities to the State Museum of Ethnography (Leiden)⁶. P. L. Scherleer emphasizes the difficulties of establishing the place and time of discovery of ancient monuments, as well as establishing their dating, and identifies the main epochs of the Indo-Buddhist era in Java: proto-classical (200-750), Central Java, or early classical (750-930), and East Java, or late classical (930-1500) (p. 12) ⁷.

The author describes the types of shrines and temples and "mountain abodes of the gods" in the Central and Eastern Javanese periods, unfortunately without diagrams, noting the creation of a new type of temple complexes in the middle of the XIV century, in which the concentric layout with the main sanctuary in the center was replaced by a linear one, where the holy of holies was located behind the other structures (p.14-15). A typical ornament of the Central Javanese era - the kalamakara (stylized full-face lion's head combined with the open mouth of a crocodile-like monster), which was used to decorate the entrances to shrines or niches with statues of gods, is separately characterized. In the East Javanese period, Kala and Makara were no longer united.

P. L. Scherleer briefly describes stone and bronze statues of gods, including Shiva, Durga, Gansha, and deified rulers, paying special attention to their typical Javanese decoration-a skull on a crescent moon. These symbols of Shiva in Hindustan did not combine into a single composition. Moreover, in Java they are peculiar to other gods and were placed as ornaments on clothing (p. 24, ills. 9-11-Ganesha statue). Other types of sculpture are described - the one-eyed kala and the demon's head devouring the sun disk, as well as bronze ceremonial objects.

The second part presents a brief history of studying the jewelry of Ancient Java. Special attention is paid to the Wonoboyo hoard, which was found in 1990-1991 and consisted of almost seven thousand gold and silver objects, including coins, crowns, vessels, spoons, etc.

* Scherleer, Pauline Lunsingh. Gold of Java. Zwolls: Vbuks, 2012. 144 p, ill. [Parallel text in Dutch and English]. ISBN 978-90-400-0360-8.

¹ However, sometimes the English version is not very accurate. Thus, even in the title of the first part, the English version is less complete than the Dutch one: "Introduction to the Hindu-Buddhist period in Indonesia" and "Inlciding tot dc hindoc-bocddhistischc eultuurpcriode van lndoncsic" (p. 5, 7). The same situation applies to the title of the first chapter of this part: "Initial acquisition with Javanese antiquities" and "Kcnnismaking met de Javaansc oudheden" (p. 9).

² Bataviaas Gcnootschap van Kunstcn en Wctcnschappcn.

³ Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden.

⁴ Oudhcidkundigc Commissic.

⁵ Oudhcidkundigc Dicnst.

⁶ Rijksmuseum voor Volkcnkundc, ныне - Museum Volkcnkundc.

⁷ In general, this division goes back to the work of N. Krom [Krom, 1923]. See also [Bandilnko, 1984].

other ceremonial objects. Examples of typical Javanese antiquities are given: gold earrings, rings, a small statue inlaid with precious stones, figurines of gods, a spout of a vessel, a paddle bowl with eight episodes of the Ramayana (p. 40, ill. 25), a pectoral, a male badge of honor (p. 44, ill. 30), Prince Sutasoma riding on an ogre (p. 44, ill. 31).

The last, third part of the monograph is actually a catalog of the collection of Javanese gold and silver from the Municipal Museum of The Hague. Each item is accompanied by an external description, dating, size information and inventory number in the museum. There is a decorative finial, a pair of ear pendants in the form of a beetle-shaped insect, an ear pendant in the form of an open ring with a protrusion, fragments of a necklace, earrings of various shapes, including decorated with the faces of different deities to protect against evil, and signets (p. 68-70, pl. 9-11), and a decoration with a four-pointed star (pp. 93-95, pl. 26).

A separate section includes items made of gold and silver wire and filigree: braided and stranded rings, shell jewelry, a braided necklace with beads (p. 106-110, pi. 32), and braided beads. This is followed by jewelry in the form of a circle/ring: necklaces, anklets, rings with and without stones, and an open three-part ring (p.132-133).

The peer-reviewed publication also contains controversial statements. Thus, P. L. Scherleer repeats the contrast between the Buddhist dynasty of Shailendras and the Shaivite dynasty of Sanjaya worshippers that goes back to N. Krom, J. Sedes, and J. G. De Casparis (p. 12), although it can hardly be considered justified (Zakharov, 2012; Zakharov, 2012). The researcher, with reference to an unpublished report by J. R. R. Tolkien. Visseman Christie ⁸ translates the expression from the Sanskrit inscription Sanjaya of Changgal 732 sampannam kanakakarais "abounding/full of gold mines" as "abounding in gold" (p. 32), without taking into account the meaning of the word akaga "mine" due to their absence in Java, whereas in Sanskrit poetics reality was constructed according to established patterns: mountains For example, they should always be rich in gold and precious stones (Griffiths, 2013, p. 57). So in the interpretation of J. R. R. Tolkien, Wisseman Christie-P. L. Scherleer no need.

In general, the catalog allows you to see firsthand the skills of ancient gold and silversmiths of Java. It successfully complements the publications of J. R. R. Tolkien. Mixika "Ancient gold of Java" and F. Brinkgreve, P. L. Scherleer, and D. Stewart-Fox, "The Golden Majesty of the National Museum of Indonesia" (Miksic, 1988; Brinkgreve et al., 2010). A carefully compiled commentary on the subjects is undoubtedly the merit of P. L. Scherleer. The publication is absolutely necessary for all students of medieval Indonesian culture.

list of literature

Bandilenko G. G. Culture and ideology of the medieval states of Java. Essay on the history of the VIII-XV centuries. east lit. Nauka Publishing House, 1984.

Zakharov A. O. Politicheskaya istoriya i politicheskaya organizaciya rannesrednevekovoy Indonezii (V - nachalo X V.) [Political History and Political organization of Early Medieval Indonesia (V-early X century)]. Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, NOCHUVPO" Institut stran Vostoka", 2012.

Brinkgreve F., Schcurlecr P.L., Stuart-Fox D. Kemegahan emas di Museum Nasional Indonesia / Golden Splendour in the National Museum of Indonesia. Jakarta: Museum National Indonesia, 2010.

Griffiths A. The Problem of the Ancient Name Java and the Role of Satyavarman in Southeast Asian International Relations Around the Turn of the Ninth Century CE // Archipel. Vol. 85. 2013.

Krom N.J. Inlieding tot de Hindoe-Javaansche Kunst. D. 1-3. 's-Gravcnhagc, 1923.

Miksic J.N. Small Finds: Ancient Javanese Gold. Singapore: National Museum, 1988.

Zakharov, Anton O. The Sailcndras Reconsidered // Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper No 12 (Aug 2012), 40 p. http://nsc.iscas.cdu.sg/documcnts/working_papers/nscwps012.pdf.

http://artgallcry.yalc.edu/sitcs/dcfault/filcs/filcs/Edu Prog sympJava-gold-symposium-program_009.pdf.

⁸ "Gold and the Early Inscriptions of Java", delivered at the Yale University Gold of Southeast Asia Symposium on May 14, 2011.(http://artgallery.yale.edu/sitcs/dcfault/filcs/files/EduProgsympJava-gold-symposium-program_009.pdf).

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