G. L. Tichelmann

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tagsperson, author, dutch, colonial, ethnographer, artist, atjeh, batak, nias, northern-sumatra, 1939, de-natuur, antiquarian
aliasesTichelmann, G. L. Tichelmann, Tichelmann Atjeh, Tichelmann Batak, G. L. Tichelmann ethnographer

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G. L. Tichelmann was a Dutch colonial ethnographer and artist — the author and illustrator of numerous illustrated articles on the antiquities, ethnography, and prehistory of northern Sumatra, published in 1939 in De Natuur (Nature), Cultureel Indië, De Indische Gids, Groot Nederland, and other venues, and recorded at length in the Sumatra chapter of Van Meurs’s Literatuur-Overzicht over het jaar 1939 (The Hague, 1940). His work is characterised by the combination of ethnographic observation with artistic illustration, and his 1939 publications range over the Batak death-puppet (si gale gale), Batak rock-inscriptions, a new Batak museum, the Nias megalithic culture, and — of Atjeh-specific interest — the glass vessels excavated in Atjeh (No. 625 of the survey).

The 1939 publications

Tichelmann’s 1939 publications, as recorded by Van Meurs, include:

  • No. 606 (with F. M. Schnitger) — Die laufende Gliederpuppe der Batak (“The walking limb-puppet of the Batak”), in Arch. für Anthropologie, p. 131 e.v.
  • No. 606a — The largest image of Sumatra, in The Lloyd Mail, p. 145 e.v.
  • No. 621 — (cross-reference: zie bij Schnitger, F. M.)
  • No. 622 — Felsengänge an Sumatras Ostküste (“Rock-passages on Sumatra’s east coast”), in Paideuma, p. 179 e.v.
  • No. 623 — Het raadsel van de “eeseng batse” (“The riddle of the ‘eeseng batse’”), in T.B.G., p. 105 e.v.
  • No. 624 — Tjakra Dönja, in De Indische Gids 61, p. 23 e.v.
  • No. 625 — In Atjeh opgedolven glazen kruikjes (“Glass jugs excavated in Atjeh”), in De Natuur 39, p. 40 e.v.
  • No. 626 — Bataksche beelden (“Batak statues”), in Groot Nederland, p. 577.
  • No. 627 — Van Bataksche dingen, die verdwijnen (“Of Batak things that are disappearing”), in De Indische Gids, p. 537 e.v.
  • No. 628 — Si gale gale, de Bataksche doodenpop (“Si gale gale, the Batak death-puppet”), in Cultureel Indië, p. 106 e.v.
  • No. 629 — Bataksche maskerplastieken (“Batak mask-sculptures”), in Cultureel Indië, p. 378 e.v.
  • No. 630 — Bataksche rotsinscripties (“Batak rock-inscriptions”), in Cultureel Indië, Med. no. 13, p. 188 e.v.
  • No. 632 — Een nieuwe Bataksche museum (“A new Batak museum”), in Cultureel Indië, Bericht, p. 399.
  • No. 633 (with F. M. Schnitger) — Meer machtige cultuur op Nias (“More powerful culture on Nias”), in Cultureel Indië, Med. no. 2, p. 20 e.v.
  • No. 634 (with Dr. P. Voorhoeve) — Over ristgraven in Simaloengoen (S.O.K.) (“On rist-graves in Simaloengoen”), in Cultureel Indië, Med. no. 17, p. 261 e.v.
  • No. 635 — Het Bataksche Saloma’s segel (“The Batak Saloma’s seal”), in Cultureel Indië, Med. no. 23, p. 330 e.v.
  • No. 636 — Pohorng, een Bataksch diviniteits-opperpriesterschap (“Pohorng, a Batak divinity high-priesthood”), in Cultureel Indië, Med. no. 12, p. 186 e.v.
  • No. 637 — Prof. Robert Heine-Geldern over het muilmotief in de Bataksche plastiek (“Prof. Robert Heine-Geldern on the muzzle-motif in Batak sculpture”), in Cultureel Indië, Med. no. 4, p. 54 e.v.

The range of these publications — from Batak death-puppets to Nias megaliths, from Batak rock-inscriptions to a Batak divinity high-priesthood, and from the east-coast rock-passages to the Atjeh glass vessels — marks Tichelmann as the principal Dutch antiquarian-ethnographic observer of northern Sumatra in the late-colonial period.

The Atjeh-specific contribution

Of Atjeh-specific interest is No. 625 — In Atjeh opgedolven glazen kruikjes — Tichelmann’s illustrated note on glass vessels excavated in Atjeh, published in De Natuur, vol. 39, p. 40 e.v. The article records a small-find of archaeological interest for the trade-history of the Atjehnese sultanate, and it is the only Atjeh-specific entry among Tichelmann’s 1939 publications. The connection to the Harders account of the van Daalen campaign (No. 568), signalled by the cross-reference “zie bij TICHELMAN, G. L.” in that entry, indicates that Tichelmann’s ethnographic and antiquarian observations on northern Sumatra were made, in part, in connection with the retrospective military-historical writing on the van Daalen campaign, and it suggests that the glass vessels may have been excavated in the course of, or in connection with, the post-campaign exploration of the interior.

Significance

For AcehWiki, G. L. Tichelmann is significant as the principal Dutch antiquarian-ethnographic observer of northern Sumatra in the late-colonial period, and as the author of the 1939 illustrated note on glass vessels excavated in Atjeh — the only Atjeh-specific entry among his extensive 1939 publications. His work connects the archaeology and antiquities of Atjeh to the wider ethnographic landscape of northern Sumatra, and the cross-reference from the Harders account of the van Daalen campaign places his observations within the context of the post-campaign exploration of the interior.

See Also

Source

Literatuur-Overzicht over het jaar 1939 van de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde en Geschiedenis van Nederlandsch-Indië, door H. van Meurs (‘s-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1940), Hoofdstuk III (Sumatra en naburig gebied), Nos. 606, 606a, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637. See in particular No. 625: G. L. Tichelmann, “In Atjeh opgedolven glazen kruikjes. Met ills.,” De Natuur, vol. 39 (1939), p. 40 e.v.

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