LORO BLONYO

[ganjawulung]

Beside having kerises, some javanese family in Yogyakarta and Surakarta have this pair of "Loro Blonyo" in their homes. Usually they put in "senthong tengah" or central living room in traditional javanese homes...

[A. G. Maisey]

Some people in the Land of Oz have these figures in their house too.

[David]

I'll have to see if i can dig up the photos, or maybe take some more, but i have this pair in my home here in the American Midwest as well. Mine seem to date somewhere between Ganja's and Alan's.
Interestly enough Ganja, mine both have a little keris (patrem) on each of their laps.
Perhaps for the edification of myself and others you might speak to the cultural significance of the Loro Blonyo.

[A. G. Maisey]

David, mine are a wee bit older than they look.

They were done as a wedding present back in the mid 1970's, then put away in a cupboard until about five years ago.

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by David

I'll have to see if i can dig up the photos, or maybe take some more, but i have this pair in my home here in the American Midwest as well. Mine seem to date somewhere between Ganja's and Alan's.
Interestly enough Ganja, mine both have a little keris (patrem) on each of their laps.
Perhaps for the edification of myself and others you might speak to the cultural significance of the Loro Blonyo.

Thanks, David and Alan for the response,

In the javanese cosmology -- according to a study of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta -- this pair of bride and bride-groom could means as symbol of "sangkan paraning dumadi" (please forgive me, not to able to give the right English translation. But it could mean: the origin and destination of the being). The "two dressed human" is the symbol of 'microcosmos' and the "senthong tengah" or the central living room, is the the symbol of 'macrocosmos'. So, Loro Blonyo and the Senthong Tengah is an unseparable unity. It is the manifestation of harmony. And in the human being world? This harmony manifests in the form of Dewi Sri and Raden Sadono, the goddess and god of fertility...

Traditional javanese people believes, that their agricultural crop is the gift of the kindness of Dewi Sri. And in the Hindu aristocracy in the past, noble men usually spared a special room in traditional houses of royal family, which was specially made for worshiping Dewi Sri. The special location is called as "pasren" (pa-sri-an = pasren) or "patanen" (pa-tani-an, means agriculture).

Some javanese people even put much of their crop here, in the living room. But some others just put symbols in the living room. The "pasren" must be equipped with certain furniture (wooden bed, fully ornamented with crafty design, which located in the central living room). And also, one set of 'earth' jar, one set of rice paddy and crop containers, and "robyong" lamps which always flame up....

GANJAWULUNG

[Sajen]

To me have been offered this pair of Loro Blonyo some years ago together with this other round containers, both worked from brass and gilded and then painted. It was told to me that they are from the Keraton of Solo and the price have been extremly high so I only have the pictures. I don't know if they are really from the Keraton but I have never seen a better pair.

[Marcokeris]

IMO the BEST Loro Blonyo picures in the extraordinary book:"Javanese Antique Furniture and Folk Art"

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by Sajen

To me have been offered this pair of Loro Blonyo some years ago together with this other round containers, both worked from brass and gilded and then painted. It was told to me that they are from the Keraton of Solo and the price have been extremly high so I only have the pictures. I don't know if they are really from the Keraton but I have never seen a better pair.

Dear Sajen,
I have seen many kinds of Loro Blonyo (please spell it "low-row blow-nyow") but I don't know which is 'original', which is souvenir item. What I know is, real Loro Blonyo statues are little-kid sized. My Loro Blonyo is about 75cm height (the Sadono) and about 50 cm (Dewi Sri).

Usually, the sitting position of the Sadono is sitting cross-legged. And the Dewi Sri is sitting with the knees bent. Mine, is Yogyakartan style with type dress of "basahan ageng" (from the type of the bride and bride-groom dress, please correct me if I'm wrong, Mr Boedhy Adhitya), and I think yours is the older style (Mataram, you may see from the model of the dress). And Alan's Loro Blonyo I think is Solonese style...

GANJAWULUNG

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah, mine were done in Solo about 1975, by a bloke who was supposedly the best carver of these at that time. Forgotten his name.