1 - Background

Summary

The textile patterns appearing on Javanese free-standing sculptures is a little-known subject. These patterns came to the attention of the author after a visit as a student to the Volkenkunde, Leiden (RV) in 1998. The museum contains large andesite stone statues decorated with many different forms of dress, with each part sporting a different pattern. The carvings are so clear and precise that the sculptor had to be replicating a particular pattern, as it is unlikely he invented the complex designs himself. These patterns then presented an unanswered question: what was the inspiration for this multitude of different textile patterns, and where did it originate? Images of lotus flowers with an abundance of scrolling vines evoke Chinese sensibilities and the following of Buddhism. Perfectly cut rosette flowers appear in many different guises, highlighting the appeal of the karahana, the Tang rosette flower motif that appeared to be so popular between the end of the seventh and the first quarter of the eighth centuries. A pattern that seems to have evolved from similar designs is used in Sogdiana and Panjikent in Central Asia. This pattern later developed to be a particularly popular motif in the Malay weaving of songket—silk fabric with a supplementary weft of gold threads. Statues from the thirteenth century display a short sleeveless upper-body jacket with a pattern that is quite possibly a template for the songket patterns we see today. One statue of Gaṇeśa does not have the typical attributes of the much-loved figure from the Hindu pantheon but instead displays specific esoteric attributes and depictions of skulls and stylized kāla-heads (fig. 1) on the textile patterns carved on his trousers. What was the symbolic meaning of these textile patterns? Why were these particular East Javanese sculptures, which dated from the late thirteenth century, carved in such an explosion of designs? What was the inspiration behind the patterns and where did this inspiration come from? To answer these questions, a stylistic evaluation and a study of the textiles portrayed on all the statues is necessary.

The “stylistic evaluation” aids in the study and identification of a sculpture and furthers our understanding of the inspiration behind the textile patterns. It became apparent that the transference from Central to early East Java showed a shift in the stylistic evolution of Mahāyāna Buddhist bronze statues.