Cuspidor

[A. G. Maisey]

In my earlier response I mentioned the bird design element only as a bird.

I did this deliberately, because I did not wish to create any controversy, nor to go too deeply into perhaps irrelevant matters.

In fact, the bird shown on the cuspidor, and the bird shown on the pendok are totally different design elements.

The bird on the cuspidor is a representation of garuda.

The bird on the pendok is a representation of a peacock.

Why?

In Indonesian art the peacock is identified by two factors:- it has a crest, and it has spots in its tail feathers; either or both of these factors will point to either a peacock or a burung hong (phoenix), the phoenix is distinguished from the peacock by a longer and more flowing tail that tends to be less cohesive than the peacock's tail. Sometimes to distinguish one from the other is extremely difficult.

The bird on the cuspidor is a garuda. A garuda can be represented by only a single wing ( the "lar"), or a pair of wings ( the "sawat"), or a pair of wings and a tail (also "sawat"), by a pair of wings and a tail and one head, or two heads. Where two heads are shown there is no certainty as to the original meaning, but it has been hypothesised that the two heads symbolise that the garuda is not bound to only the upper world. The garuda was the mount of Vishnu, and occurs frequently as an element in Indonesian design.

To complicate matters further, it is not unusual to have the sawat shown with characteristics that are normally associated with the peacock, even though the sawat is symbolic of the garuda.

The peacock in Indonesian art is a design element that goes back to the bronze period, and representations have been found on bronze age artifacts. In the Hindu period the peacock was representative of the mount of the god of war, Kartikeya, also known as Skanda. However, this element also occurs in Chinese art, and it probably entered later Indonesian art from both sources. Where and how it is portrayed would give some indication as to source, for instance, in North Coast Jawa design it would be reasonable to associate the peacock with a Chinese source, but in a cultural centre which drew upon the Hindu-Javanese period, as was the case with Jogjakarta, the association would be with the original Hindu-Javanese intent. Thus, its inclusion in a semen motif used to decorate a keris pendok is entirely suitable because of the martial association. I believe that at one time the sawat was the exclusive prerogative of the Sultan of Jogjakarta.

My sources for the above explanation are Van Der Hoop, and personal informants such as silver craftsmen and batik workers over a very extended period.


Amuk Murugul, I find your post interesting for a couple of reasons, firstly, it would appear that in Sunda there is a legend associated with this two headed peacock and that the design element has a name---karonsih, and the legend goes in a completely different direction that what I have understood to be the symbolism of this element.

Secondly, you have been able to positively identify gatot kaca, a feat which I must admit is totally beyond my ability from this representation.

I have noted that all your spellings use the old Dutch forms which have not been used since 1972, so I am guessing that your reference is an old publication.

Would you be kind enough to share the name of your reference with us?

It would appear that in Jawa this information has not been known for a very long time, so preservation of earlier sources becomes quite important under such circumstances.