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Page 13
“...culturally and linguistically diverse peoples of Southeast Asia have drawn upon the resources of its many ecological zones to create a wide range of artefacts in a striking variety of styles. Their arts continue to embody local traditions, but have also been enriched by external contacts.
The objects in this exhibition range from ones collected by early Western scholars through to more recent donations to SOAS. With a wide chronological span, they are diverse in nature, comprising manuscripts (written on bark, palm leaves, copper sheets and paper), textiles, sculptures, metalwork and paintings, and reflect the variety of religions, cultures and languages to be found across this vast area. The objects come from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and range in date from circa 1000 BCE to the present day. Most are functional, being made for religious, ceremonial or practical purposes, and particular meanings adhere to...”
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Page 16
“...widely used during the twentieth century and in some cases replacing the local scripts.
In addition, there are still many languages in Southeast Asia that do not have a written form. Early European explorers and scholars have documented many examples of these languages and their oral traditions, some of which are kept in the SOAS collections.
SOAS continues to contribute to the study and preservation of Southeast Asian languages and scripts through the teaching, research, and conservation of manuscripts, books and oral traditions.
Nur al-Din al-Raniri, Sirat al-mustaqim (“The Straight Path”). Cat. 39, p. 119....”
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Page 28
“...Religion | 27
Kammavaca refer to Pali texts used in Buddhist ceremonies of the monastic communities (sangha) of Myanmar. They relate to ordinations, donations, and the consecration of a new building or curing sickness. The lacquered leaves follow the form of palm-leaf manuscripts and are ornamented with figures and floral decoration in gold, unique to Myanmar. The square script is lacquered in the “tamarind-seed” style. EM
10 Kammavaca
(Buddhist ritual text)
Myanmar (Burma),
19th century.
Pali in Burmese “tamarind-seed” script; on lacquered and gilded cloth, with lacquered and gilded wooden covers,
H14 x W58 x T3.5 cm.
SOAS Library PL MS 16592.
Gift of Mrs. Thicknesse, 1924.
11 Kammavaca
(Buddhist ritual text)
Myanmar (Burma),
19th century.
Pali in Burmese “tamarind-seed” script; on lacquered and gilded cloth, with lacquered and gilded wooden covers,
H13.5 x W58 x T4 cm.
SOAS Library PL MS 230041, fol. 16v.
Gift from the Burmese Dictionary Office, 1968....”
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Page 29
“...28 | The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections
12 Kammavaca (Buddhist ritual text)
Laos or Northern Thailand,
dated according to the Thai calendar CS 1183 / 1821 CE.
Pali in Tham script; incised on palm leaves, with lacquered and gilded wooden covers, H7 x W64 x T3 cm. SOAS Library PL MS 42216, top: cover; bottom: fols. lv-2r.
On permanent loan from the Imperial Institute, 1927.
This manuscript is made from palm leaves that have been dried and trimmed into rectangular pages. A scribe etched the letters using a sharp stylus and then rubbed soot into the incisions to darken them against the pale leaf. The texts inscribed are Buddhist canonical regulations for monks, including the service for ordination.
This manuscript was probably a gift presented to a monastery on the occasion of the ordination of the donor’s son or other relative into the monkhood. The striking gold-painted, black-lacquered wooden covers increased the expense of the gift and thereby the potential merit earned...”
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Page 30
“...perhaps indicating that Burmese language was popularly used among the Shan at that time.
The text of Nang Yi Hseng Kaw is a famous Shan folk story in verse, starting with the preaching of the Buddha at Savatthi.
The text was composed in metrical rhyming style for recitation performed by a trained reader to a large audience, usually at religious or cultural ceremonies. The calligraphy and illumination between the texts are the marks of the end of a chapter or section, normally found in Shan manuscripts.
The original donor of this manuscript, as shown on the back cover and first folio of the main text, was Mr. Tang Ke Hoen and his family, of Wan Zawk (a village outside Mong Pan town). JKY...”
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Page 48
“...with a particular decision to be made, such as choosing a wife or husband.
Contact with the supernatural world is often undertaken by magicians and shamans. While much of their knowledge is transmitted orally from teacher to student, some of it is gathered in books and manuscripts, as shown by the SOAS items. Pali and Quranic texts may be used for divination, but the commonalities of practice transcend differences in faith.
28 Pustaha (Manual for magic and divination)
Northern Sumatra, Indonesia,
18th century.
Batak in Batak script; ink and colours on tree-bark, with wooden covers, H17.5xW22xT7 cm.
SOAS Library MS 41836, side B,
7th opening.
William Marsden collection, 1941.
Pustaha refers to the folding-book manuscripts of the Batak peoples in northern Sumatra. They are made of tree-bark and have wooden covers. Compiled by Batak priest-magicians (datu), the pustaha contain various texts on medicine, magic and divination. Tables, charts, talismanic designs and schematic representations...”
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Page 51
“...i',% n J 3 3. y 3 ;r> 3 sT 'V
1 • 3 n y 3 i .... j < 3 5
A
6 | *70 <0
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31 Talismanic figures and magic squares including garuda and naga tattoo to protect against snakebites. Manual for making amulets
Myanmar (Burma), 19th century. Burmese and Pali in Burmese script; incised on palm-leaves, H7 x W50 cm. SOAS Library PL MS 41891, fols. 4v-5r and detail.
Provenance unknown, 1941.
This palm-leaf manuscript from Myanmar depicts a number of magical diagrams referred to as inn or yantra, and serves as a manual for making amulets. The graphics and accompanying verses are used for protective purposes and for predicting auspicious and inauspicious events. In this manuscript, the term “let phwe” (amulet) is mentioned on almost every page, together with “inn” There are many magic squares which act as yantra for amulets. EM & JKY...”
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Page 57
“...paper, H21.5 x W16 cm.
SOAS Library MS 25030.
35a, fols. 15v-16r.
35b, fol. 19r.
Gift of Sir Richard O. Winstedt, 1931.
This manuscript contains various magical and divinatory techniques, concerning topics such as battle and conflict, and the determination of auspicious and inauspicious times. During the nineteenth century Malay religious figures still kept works on magic (this manuscript was copied for a muezzin of a mosque). For Western scholars such as Richard Winstedt (1878-1966), these manuscripts became a means to understand Malay magical practices. FY...”
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Page 63
“...of Prince Rama, are very popular, and alongside them there are tales of local heroes, such as the Malay Admiral Hang Tuah, whose exploits continue to captivate the public today.
While these tales may be found in written form, alongside illustrated lives of the Buddha and later religious figures (as seen in the section on Religion), much of Southeast Asian literature is oral, being recited or performed as dance-dramas and shadow plays with puppets. There is often a strong connection between manuscripts and book illustrations with the arts of the theatre: figures may be depicted in the style of puppets, and costumes often reflect those of the stage.
Scenes from popular works may also appear on media such as textiles and metalwork, as seen in this section, while traditional literary texts provide valuable information on how such objects were used. All this reflects the interconnectivity between literature and art within Southeast Asian culture.
“Gulfam and Sabz-peri in happiness”. Cat. 49,...”
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Page 68
“...69
44a
44a Prince Arjuna and Prince Utara attacking the Kauravas 44b The Game of Dice
Serat Petikan Sangking Mahabharata (“Extract from the Mahabharata”)
Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, probably AJ 1833 I 1903 CE.
Javanese in Javanese script; ink and colours on paper, H32.5 x W20 cm. SOAS Library MS 231964.
44a, fols. 92v-93r.
44b, fols. 32v-33r.
Purchased, 1969.
The Indian epic of the Mahabharata tells of the rivalry between the Pandava and Kaurava families. Illustrations in Javanese manuscripts often follow the convention of shadow play puppets. Refined characters are thin and have narrow eyes, whereas coarse ones are often large with bulging eyes.
In the painting above, the Kauravas are being killed by Arjuna’s arrows which transform into tigers, and are trampled by the horses of the chariot driven by Prince Utara. The illustration overleaf depicts the ‘Game of Dice’ in which Yudhisthira gambles his wife Draupadi to Duryodhana and loses. FY...”
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Page 71
“...bin Abdul Samad for D. F. A. Hervey.
Melaka, Malaysia, dated 1882.
Malay in Jawi script; ink and colours on paper, 2 volumes, with leather binding, H33 x W22.5 cm.
SOAS Library MS 37075, vol. 1, pp. 1-2. Purchased from Kegan Paul, 1939.
This story is about the adventures of the heroic Admiral Hang Tuah of Melaka during the fifteenth century. He carried out various assignments for the sultan, but tragic circumstances led to him having to kill one of his closest friends.
Many Malay literary manuscripts that were copied for Europeans were illuminated, suggesting that the patrons had an influence in their production. The designs in this manuscript, which was commissioned by Dudley Francis Amelius Hervey (1849-1911), a British administrator during the nineteenth century, are typical of Malay art. FY...”
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Page 103
“...London: SOAS.
Contadini, Anna (ed.), 2017, Celebrating Art and Music - The SOAS Collections, London: SOAS.
Forbes, Lesley, 1968, Catalogue of Books Printed Between 1500 and 1599 in the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, preliminary edition, London: SOAS.
Ricklefs, M. C., P. Voorhoeve, and Annabel Teh Gallop, 2014, Indonesian Manuscripts in Great Britain: A Catalogue of Manuscripts in Indonesian Languages in British Public Collections. New Edition with Addenda et Corrigenda, Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia.
SOAS, 1963, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Library Catalogue. Volume 22: Catalogue of Manuscripts and Microfilms, Boston: G. K. Hall & Co.
SOAS, 1960, Handlist of the Papers of the If or Ball Powell Collection on the Philippines, London: SOAS, 1990.
SOAS Library online catalogue, http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/
SOAS Library Archives and Special Collections online catalogue, http://www.soas. ac.uk/library/archives/
West, Andrew C., 1998...”
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Page 104
“...Orthography”, edited by Annabel Gallop, Indonesia and the Malay World, special issue, vol. 125 (March), pp. 138-139.
Farouk Yahya, 2016, Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts, Leiden: Brill, Arts and Archaeology of the Islamic World series.
Fraser-Lu, Sylvia, 1994, Burmese Crafts: Past and Present, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.
Gallop, Annabel Teh, 1990, “Early Malay Printing: An Introduction to the British Library Collection”, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 85-124.
Gallop, Annabel Teh and Bernard Arps, 1991, Golden Letters: Writing Traditions of Indonesia, London, Jakarta: British Library, Lontar Foundation.
Ginsburg, Henry, 1989, Thai Manuscript Painting, London: British Library.
Ginsburg, Henry, 2000, Thai Art and Culture: Historic Manuscripts from Western Collections, London: British Library....”
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Page 105
“...| 107
Guy, John, 1982, Palm-leaf and Paper: Illustrated Manuscripts of India and Southeast Asia, Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria.
Igunma, Jana, 2005, “Illustrated Manuscripts from Thailand”, Tai Culture, vol. 18, pp. 127-140.
Isaacs, Ralph and T. Richard Blurton, 2002, Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer, London: British Museum Press.
Kerlogue, Fiona, 2004, Arts of Southeast Asia, London: Thames & Hudson.
Khur-Yearn, Jotika, 2016, “In Search of the Footprints: H. J. Inman and a History of Shan Studies at the University of London”, SCA-UK Newsletter, vol. 12, November, pp. 14-16.
Kumar, Ann, and John H. McGlynn (eds), 1996, Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia, Jakarta, New York: Lontar Foundation, Weatherhill.
Maxwell, Robyn, 2003, Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade and Transformation, revised ed., Singapore: Periplus.
Maxwell, Robyn, 2010, Life, Death and Magic: 2000 Years of Southeast Asian Ancestral Art, Canberra: National Gallery...”
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Page 106
“...Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/
cathen/06413f.htm.
Tan, Bonny, 2009, “A Graphic Tale in Baba Malay: Chrita Orang yang Chari Slamat (1905)”, Biblio Asia, October, pp. 33-36.
Terwiel, B. J., 2003, Shan Manuscripts Part 1, Stuttgart: F. Steiner.
Vickers, Adrian, 2011, Balinese Art: Paintings and Drawings of Bali, 1800-2010, Tokyo, Rutland: Tuttle Publishing.
Voorhoeve, R, 1975, Catalogue of Indonesian Manuscripts: Part 1: Batak Manuscripts, Copenhagen: The Royal Library.
Voorhoeve, P, 1978, “Some Notes on South Sumatran Epics”, in S. Udin (ed.), Spectrum: Essays Presented to Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana on His Seventieth Birthday, Jakarta: Dian Rakyat, pp. 92-102.
Ward, Sinead, 2015, “Stories Steeped in Gold: Narrative Scenes of the Decorative Kammavaca Manuscripts of Burma”, in Justin Thomas McDaniel and Lynn Ransom (eds), From Mulberry Leaves to Silk Scrolls: New Approaches to the Study of Asian Manuscript Traditions, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 70-103...”
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Page 111
“...Hippolyte 96
Bali (Indonesia) 19, 65, 88
Balkans 81
Ban Chiang (Thailand) 20
Banjarmasin (Indonesia) 93
Banten (Indonesia) 88
Barth, Christian Gottlob, Cariyos Satus Sakawan Pepethikan Saking Kitab Suci Mawi Gambar 44
Batak 16, 47, 58
Batavia (Indonesia) 95
batik 87
Batley, J. 93
Bayon temple (Cambodia) 34, 98
Baxter, George 95
Be-din-pyinna parabaik 48
Beeckman, Daniel, A Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo, in the East-Indies 93
Bible 44, 95
bindings 43, 72, 74. See also cloth covers for manuscripts
Bircham, Mr. and Mrs. E Thomas 23
Birds 24, 25, 39, 87. See also animals; garuda; hintha bird; kinnari and kinnara; Manohra; peacocks
Black, Parbury & Allen 94
boats 39, 90
Bock, Carl, Temples and Elephants 99
Bonner 96
Borneo 86, 93
bowls 66, 67
Bradley, C.W. 45
Britain-Burma Society 9, 66, 67
Bronze Age 20, 49
Brunei 11, 60, 81, 86
Brunei Museums Department 60
Buddha. See alsojataka stories; Maitreya; Siddhartha 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 31, 33, 52, 63
Buddhism 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33...”
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Page 112
“...114 | The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections
Chtf Nho (script) 16, 41
Chulalongkorn, King 99
Chulalongkorn University 17
cloth covers for manuscripts 54, 68
Clouzier, Gervais 90
Coignard, Jean Baptiste 92
compass diagrams for divination 54, 55
Confucianism 19, 41
Conquista de las islas Malucas (Argensola) 89
Cooper, James Davis 97
Council for World Mission Archive 90, 95,
Cuming Museum 22
D
dancers 34, 88
dAnville, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon, Seconde partie de la carte d’Asie 13
Daniell, William 94
Daniels, Frank 34
Daud, Syeikh of Minangkabau, Syair Negeri Mekah al-Musyarrafah dan Madinah al-Munawwarah 40
Delagrave, Ch. 98
Delaporte, Louis, Voyage au Cambodge: Larchitecture Khmer 98
Delle navigationi et viaggi (Ramusio) 80
diagrams 47, 51, 54, 55, 59
divination 11, 47, 52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59
Dong xi yang kao (Zhang) 82
dragons 86. See also naga
Du royaume de Siam (La Loubere) 92
Dumoutier, Gustave, Les Chants et les Traditions Populaires des Annamites 100
E
Earl, George Windsor...”
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Page 114
“...116 | The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections
manuscript formats:
concertina/folding-books 29, 31, 33, 47, 48
palm-leaf 11, 27, 28, 51
parabaik 29, 48
pap tup 29
roll-form 30, 54, 68
samut khoi 31, 33
Mao Ruizheng, Ge guo yi yu 83
Mao Shan 16, 30
maps 13, 79, 80, 81, 82, 88
Marsden, William 38, 39, 47, 55, 58, 61, 75, 89, 92,
94
Martin, Alonso 89
McCallum, J. L. 29
Mecca 40
Medhurst, Walter Henry, China: Its State and Prospects (Medhurst) 95
Medina 40
Meiji period 85
Melaka/Malacca (Malaysia) 59, 72, 82, 102 metalwork 11, 63. See also keris; silver bowls Methodist Publishing House 45 Min Wae Aung, Monks; Monks with Dogs 37 Minangkabau (Indonesia) 40
Ming Dynasty 82, 83, 84
missionaries 43, 44, 45, 77, 79, 95
monkeys 48
Monks (Min Wae Aung) 37
Monks with Dogs (Min Wae Aung) 37
Moore, Elizabeth 20, 21, 35, 49, 87
Morrison, Robert 82, 83, 84
Muhammad, Prophet 38
Muhammad Hassan bin Nasaruddin, Syair Indera Sebaha 76
Muhammad Siraj bin Haji Muhammad Salih, Haji 76
Muhammad Tahir...”
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Page 116
“...118 | The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections
Temples and Elephants (Bock) 99
Terajima Ryoan, Wakan sansai zue 85
Ternate (Indonesia) 89
textiles 11, 63, 73. See also batik; cloth covers for manuscripts; kammavaca-, shwe-chi-hto-, songket
Thai (language/script) 15, 16, 17, 31, 33, 43, 52 Thailand 11, 16, 17, 20, 21, 28, 31, 33, 43, 52, 54, 81,
92, 99
Iham (script) 16, 28, 54
The History of Java (Raffles) 94
Tho XtfOng (Vietnam) 41
Thompson, Thomas 95
The Malay Archipelago (Wallace) 97
The Native Races of the Indian Archipelago: Papuans (Earl) 96
The Old House, Malacca (Keith) 102
Thicknesse, Mrs. 27
thrones 23
tigers 69
Tipitaka 31, 33. See also kammavaca-, Vinaya Pitaka Tokyo 102
Tonkin (Vietnam) 91
trees 45, 47, 48
Troup, James 85
U
University Grants Committee (UGC) 99
Wallace, Alfred Russell, The Malay Archipelago 97
Wan Zawk (Myanmar) 29
Wang Qi, Sancai tuhui 84
Wang Siyi, Sancai tuhui 84
Wanli period 84
Warner, T. 93
Win Maung, U 23
Winstedt, Richard O. 57, 59
woodblo...”
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Page 119
“...Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This gallery is now used to showcase objects, artworks and artefacts from the School’s own collections through a programme of changing and rotating displays and exhibitions.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Farouk Yahya (PhD, SOAS University of London, 2013) is currently Leverhulme Research Assistant in Islamic Art and Culture at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, and Postdoctoral Research Associate at SOAS. He is the author of Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts (Leiden: Brill, 2016)....”
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