The Batavian Society treasure room Aceh collection was a major assemblage of Acehnese gold, silver, and precious-metal objects housed in the Batavian Society’s treasure room (schatkamer) in Batavia. The collection was displayed in three dedicated cabinets (Kast 3, 4, and 5), all labelled “Atjeh,” and was comprehensively catalogued in the Society’s 1928 visitor’s guide, Gids voor den bezoeker van de schatkamer.
Scope and organisation
The three cabinets together held over one hundred individually numbered objects, spanning the full range of Acehnese personal adornment, weaponry, and ceremonial metalwork. The objects can be broadly categorised as follows:
Weapons and martial equipment
- Swords (zwaard), sabres (sabel), lances (lans), and daggers (dolk) with gold and silver fittings
- Kris of various types, including kris pandjang (long kris) and flamed-blade kris
- Two revolvers decorated with spinsbek work
- A silver-and-gold belt chain, possibly a sword-belt
Personal ornaments
- Rings (ring), finger rings (vingerringen), and ankle rings (enkelring, enkelband) in gold, silver, and spinsbek
- Bracelets (armband, armbandje) in various styles
- Chest ornaments (borstsieraad), necklaces (borstketen, keten), and ear buttons (oorknop)
- Brooches (broche), buttons (knoop, knoopje), and slide buttons (schuifknoop)
- Hair pins (haarnaald) and pins in various forms
- Children’s jewellery, including bracelets, neck ornaments, and a rattle chain (rinkelsnoer)
Ceremonial and authority objects
- The nine-fold sultan’s seal (negenvoudige zegel)
- The personal seal of Toekoe Moeda Ia Malim
- A gold chain bearing the Dutch coat of arms, formerly belonging to Teukoe Moeda Baid Setia Maharadja
- Gold kopiah crown ornaments (koepiah kruin-versiersel)
Amulets and magical objects
- Amulets (amulet) on chains, in boxes (amulet-doosje), and as pendants
- Wonderkogels — gold bullets with human faces and diamond eyes
- A seal for stamping amulets
Betel and domestic equipment
- Betel-lime boxes (kalkdoosje) in silver, gold, and spinsbek
- Boxes (doos, doosje) of chased silver and gold for various purposes
- A pair of gold spectacles with extendable parts
- Candlesticks (kandelaar), bowls (kom, napje), and other domestic items
Textiles
- A gold-embroidered mosquito-net strip (klamboe-strook met goud geborduurd)
- A woven pandan-leaf sitting mat from Seunagan
Provenance
The objects entered the collection through various channels. The largest single group — the jewellery of the radja of Simpang Olim (Cabinet 3, items 2–42) — was recovered from an abandoned house in 1877. Other items were gifts from colonial officials, confiscated from disloyal rulers (such as Baid Setia Maharadja’s chain), or acquired through purchase or donation during the decades of the Aceh War.
Significance
The collection is one of the most comprehensive surviving assemblages of nineteenth-century Acehnese precious-metal work, and the 1928 catalogue provides an invaluable record of the types, styles, and materials of Acehnese personal adornment and martial equipment during the late pre-colonial and early colonial period. The dominance of spinsbek work (a technique of fine, granulated or beaded metalwork) throughout the collection is particularly noteworthy, as is the presence of both Islamic-influenced and indigenous Acehnese decorative motifs.
See Also
- Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen
- Acehnese Gold and Silverwork
- Spinsbek
- Sultanszegel van Atjeh
- Wonderkogel
- Radja of Simpang Olim
- Teukoe Moeda Baid Setia Maharadja
- Toekoe Moeda Ia Malim
Source
Gids voor den bezoeker van de schatkamer, Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, Batavia, 1928. Druk: Ruygrok & Co., Batavia. Cabinets 3, 4, and 5 (Atjeh).