Provenance #4 Textiles

provenance #4

© 2023 Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen Provenance volume 4 was edited by Fanny Wonu Veys, curator Oceania at the National Museum of World Cultures and the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam Lay-out: Sidestone Press, Leiden Cover design: Buro Millennial, Leiden ISBN 978-94-6426-226-1

Contents

5

Foreword Fanny Wonu Veys

7

Unravelling the cloth: a history of terfo weavings of the Sobeispeaking people on the northern coast of New Guinea Linda Hanssen

39

Provenance of the Prankemon sarongs Sabine Bolk

Foreword Fanny Wonu Veys

The fourth issue of Provenance comes at a time of change for the museum.

Firstly, there is the name change from National Museum of World Cultures to Wereldmuseum (World Museum). This means that each of the names of the composing locations of this umbrella organisation – Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden, Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal and the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam – will cease to exist. They will all be caught under the name of Wereldmuseum adding the location if one wants to refer to a specific physical building. The naming of the museum follows a trend, known elsewhere.

The Liverpool Museum (UK) for example changed name to World Museum Liverpool in 2005; the Weltmuseum in Vienna (Austria) was renamed in 2013 from its earlier name Museum für Völkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology). Throughout this publication we use the new name, unless the historical names are important to understand the train of thought.

Secondly, the museum has reached an intensified stage in the restitution debate.

On 10 July 2023 the Secretary of State, Gunay Uslu signed the transfer of ownership 5

of a number of Indonesian objects

the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds

in the presence of the Indonesian

in 2022-2023. Sabine Bolk, a visual artist

ambassador, Mayerfas, the Repatriasi

and batik researcher was Research

Commissie (Indonesian Repatriation

Associate at the Wereldmuseum

Committee) led by I Gusti Agung

from 2019 to 2021.

Wesaka Puja, the president of the Colonial Collections Committee Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You and the director general of the Ministry of Culture in Indonesia, Hilmar Farid.

Amidst these intensified discussion centring around the identity of the museum, its societal relevance and its role in supporting questions of ownership and representation, meticulous research is carried out on our collections. This latest issue deals with textiles from the Asia-Pacific region. The authors Linda Hanssen and Sabine Bolk delve more specifically into the particular kinds of mythmaking that surround loom-woven textiles from New Guinea on the one hand, and batik textiles from Indonesia on the other.

What does in-depth research, looking at objects, tell us about collecting practices, techniques, and attributions?

For example, what is the position of loom-woven terfo textiles in Oceania, a region that is generally characterised by barkcloth and plaited textiles? Also, how have numerous textiles most likely wrongly been attributed to a workshop run by Miss Von Franquemont?

Linda Hanssen, a textile conservator and researcher completed her research based in the Wereldmuseum with a grant of the Pacific Fonds within 6

Unravelling the cloth: a history of terfo weavings of the Sobei-speaking people on the northern coast of New Guinea Linda Hanssen

Introduction Thinking about traditional dress in New Guinea, immediately conjures up notions of beaten barkcloth in natural colours or decorated with bold curvilinear lines and stylized figures, colourful beaded dance aprons, ikat-dyed grass skirts, loincloths and penis gourds, but certainly not woven dress items. Actually, this is a misapprehension. Until today, a specific type of rectangular cloth, called terfo, is woven by people in the coastal villages of Sarmi, Bagaiserwar and Sawar in the

7

Province of Papua1 on New Guinea’s

Anton Ploeg, specialised in the material

northern coast, situated roughly

culture of Oceania and was made

between Cape d’Urville to the west and

possible by a grant of the Pacific Fonds

Jayapura (formerly Hollandia) to the

within the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.

east. The inhabitants are called Sarmi

As such, it contributes to the

and share the Sobei language, of which

provenance research of the collections

several variations are spoken along

of the Dutch Wereldmuseum, an

the coast and on the offshore islands.

umbrella organisation including

There used to be a lot of trading and

locations in Amsterdam, Leiden, Berg

exchanging between these areas (Clercq

en Dal and Rotterdam.2 The primary aim

& Schmeltz 1893: 49, Sande 1907: 237).

of provenance research is described

Terfo refers specifically to the

as follows: ‘It investigates previously

weavings of fibres of an indigenous

unexpected provenance [….] brings to

palm species. It remains unknown

light objects whose provenance left

when the tradition started, but the first

them underrepresented in exhibitions

textiles of the terfo type were collected

and ethnographic research’ ( Johnson &

around 1880. According to Louis Albert

Veys 2020: 8).

van Oosterzee, Assistant Resident of Northern New Guinea, terfo were also present on the islands of Kumamba, Liki, Wakde, Yamna, Podena and Anus until the end of the 19th century (Snelleman 1908: 29). However, terfo weaving only survived in the coastal villages that traded and exchanged terfo with the islands.

My research focuses on writing a history of terfo by bringing together in a systematic manner information from Dutch object collections, archives, reports of missionaries, annual reports of museums, museum records and academic literature. The research is supported by Dutch anthropologist

Terfo weavings in literature Terfo are rectangular chequered cloths of approximately 60 cm wide and 110 cm long, woven of the fibres of an indigenous palm tree (figure 1).

Anton Ploeg’s personal interest in terfo and the expertise of Miekee Kijne, specialist and passionate researcher of Papuan textile techniques, formed the starting point for the research.

In 2006, both drew attention to a group 2

In the course of 2023, the National Museum of World Cultures was rebranded into the Wereldmuseum, with an addition of the place name to designate the specific locations. In

1

8

Since 2022, western New Guinea is divided

so doing, each location lost its specific name,

into five Indonesian provinces: West Papua,

i.e. Tropenmuseum (Amsterdam), Museum

Papua, South Papua, Central Papua and

Volkenkunde (Leiden), Afrika Museum (Berg

Highland Papua.

en Dal) and Wereldmuseum (Rotterdam).

Figure 1. Terfo, women’s hip cloth, Sarmi, New Guinea. Collected in Tanah Merah Bay by G.A.J. van der Sande in 1903 during the New Guinea expedition. Palm fibre in plain weave, 62 × 86 cm (including fringes), Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, WM-13846.

of long-time neglected textiles present

the hip covering of women on Yamna

in the Dutch ethnographic collections

Island off the coast of Sarmi and state

since the end of the 19th century.

that ‘Tarfò’ are worn as ‘cloth’, ‘mat’

First references The written equivalent of the term terfo first appears in the 1893 travelogue

by Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq and Johannes Dietrich Edward Schmeltz. They undertook an expedition to the west and north coasts of New Guinea in 1887 and 1888 on behalf of the Dutch government, after which they meticulously recorded their findings in writing and drawing. In the chapter ‘Pubic cover’, they describe

and ‘apron’ (Clercq & Schmeltz 1893: 49). Three cloths that they collected are presently in the Wereldmuseum collection, two of which De Clercq and Schmeltz commented on using the term ‘tarfò’. One (RV-929-621) is characterised as a ‘fine mat’ woven from the young leaves of a kind of ‘kelapa oetan’3 (forest palm tree), with several colours and long fringes on 3

This Dutch phonetic spelling probably refers to kelapa hutan (Pandanus jiulianettii Martelli), a type of pandanus that looks palmlike.

9

Figure 2. Map of the Sarmi area as published in Van der Sande (1907).

both sides (Clercq & Schmeltz 1893:

the northwest coast of New Guinea,

49). The other ‘tarfò’ (RV-929-622) is

literature and descriptions ever since,

quite different, as it is not woven but

employ terfo as the specific term for

consists of dyed layers of fibres pleated

women’s hip cloths woven of palm

at the ends into flat cords attached to

fibre. Actually, anthropologists Michael

a girdle. Another cloth (RV-929-623),

Howard and Naffi Sanggenafa argue

described simply as a ‘cloth’ and not as

that three types of terfo weaving used

‘tarfò’, is actually a terfo weaving from

to exist: a small man’s waist or loin

Anus located on the mainland at the

cloth (sobor), a narrow cloth used as

mouth of the Witriwai river. De Clercq

breast cloth for men (ode), and a larger

and Schmeltz (1893: 49) detailed that

one for hip cloths for women (memda)

it had short fringes and was worn by

(Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 10). In

women as a sarong with parts hanging

contrast, De Clercq and Schmeltz use

off the front and the back.

the term sòbòr for the non-woven

While De Clercq and Schmeltz use the term terfo as a generic term for women’s aprons or hip cloths of 10

pubic covering for men on Yamna

Island, consisting of a cotton rag,4

New Guinea Expedition undertaken

sereh leaves or frayed barkcloth strung

in 1903 was published in 1907

on a cord and worn around the body

(Sande 1907). It is one of the most

(Clercq & Schmeltz 1893: 47). So far,

important written accounts about the

weavings found in the collections are

material culture of New Guinea with

of only one type: hip cloths for women.

good drawings and photographs.

According to the observations of

The collected objects are now in the

De Clercq and Schmeltz (1893: 49), terfo

Wereldmuseum in Leiden. Clothing and

originated from the mainland where

body decoration of the inhabitants are

they were woven by Sobei-speaking

described with great feeling for detail.

groups and exchanged or sold for

Remarkably, no mention is made of

other items including particular body

terfo fabrics (Sande 1907). However, the

adornments and stone axes (Howard

expedition led by doctor and author

& Sanggenaffa 1999: 10). Louis Albert

Gijsbert Adriaan Johan van der Sande

van Oosterzee, assistant-resident of

brings ‘knitted aprons’ to the attention

Northern New Guinea at Manokwari

and tells of a weaving frame originating

established in 1899 during his visit to

from Tarpia,5 situated on the coast

Wakde Island off the coast of Sarmi that

east of Sarmi. He also notes that local

there was also weaving on the offshore

people manufacture armlets, girdles

islands (figure 2). On Wakde Island he

as well as brow and wrist bands on

was shown an old loom no longer in

this weaving frame (Sande 1907: 237).

use. According to him, weaving existed

Considering that terfo is not mentioned,

in 1899 on the north coast of the Dutch

it is all the more remarkable that

part of New Guinea and in a very limited

in 1907, Van der Sande donated a terfo

area east of Cape d’Urville, in the Sobei

fabric ‘apron’ originating from Tanah

region and on the Kumamba Islands lying

Merah Bay further east, to the Museum

opposite. Weaving was also known on the

van Land- en Volkenkunde, now the

Yamna and Wakde Islands, but European

Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam. De Clercq

cotton textiles had already replaced terfo

and Schmeltz had pointed out earlier

around 1890 (Snelleman 1908: 29-30).

that girdles were being produced in

Nova Guinea The internationally leading work ‘Nova Guinea’ of the members of the

Tarpia and also in Tanah Merah (Clercq & Schmeltz 1893: 41); consequently, Van der Sande concluded that Tarpia was actually the centre of production of these types of textiles.

4

Even though De Clercq and Schmeltz (1893: 49) say sòbòr were not woven, the use of a piece of cotton implies it could incorporate woven material.

5

De Clercq and Schmeltz (1893: 41) name the village Tarfía, but the current name is Tarpia.

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Studies of textiles in the Dutch East Indies In 1912, Johan Ernst Jasper, colonial official with a special interest in Indonesian arts and crafts, and Javanese artist Mas Pirngadie published a legendary compendium on Indonesian crafts. In the second volume, dedicated to the textile arts, the whole archipelago and the western part of New Guinea is covered. Meticulously, every step in the weaving of a textile is explained – from the thread making to the finished product. Mas Pirngadie provided all the terms in the local language of each island group. Five lines address the Sarmi loom and weavings: ‘Even more flawed is the device used to weave lontar leaf fibres into short cloths in parts of northern New Guinea. That loom is not fastened to poles or posts with its warp beam, but held taut with the feet of the weaver’ (Jasper & Pirngadie 1912: 160).6 Jasper refers to the photograph – depicting a Sarmi weaver – which together with the loom (WM-15225) was

a gift of Van Oosterzee to the museum (figure 3). In the 1908 annual report of the Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam, director Johannes François Snelleman writes: ‘women’s aprons, tarfo, of the northern coast of Dutch New Guinea are known since a long time; maybe it is better to speak of a skirt, because the garment consists of two aprons on a band, one for the frontside and one for the backside’ (Snelleman 1908: 29). In the same report, Snelleman makes clear he is very happy with the donation of a loom from Sarmi by Van Oosterzee, because no Sarmi loom has entered the Dutch collections before.

It is also the first time Sarmi weaving is ever mentioned in a Dutch museum report, with detailed information on the provenance of the two terfo, a loom and a warping up frame. In the beginning of the twentieth century, the focus on the economic and commercial opportunities the woven textiles of the Indonesian archipelago could bring, had shifted towards an interest in the technical aspects of textile arts and crafts. From 1898 onwards, many

6

Author’s translation from the following

Indies had to offer in arts and crafts

waarmee men in een gedeelte van Noord-

appear. Specialists, researchers, and

Nieuw-Guinea lontarbladvezels tot korte doeken weeft. Dat weeftoestel wordt niet

government officials such as Gerret

met zijn kettingboom aan palen of stijlen

Pieter Rouffaer in 1901, Johannes

vastgemaakt, doch met de voeten van de

Aarnout Loebèr in 1903 – who wrote the

weefster strak gehouden’. The quote further states that in the 1908 report of the Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde and the Maritiem Museum ‘Prins Hendrik’ the use of the loom was made clear with a photograph (Jasper & Pirngadie 1912: 160).

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publications on what the Dutch East

Dutch text: ‘Nog gebrekkiger is het toestel,

first detailed study on Indonesian textile weaving and looms – Snelleman in 1908, Jasper and Pirngadie in 1912 and B.M. Goslings in 1922 analysed the weaving

in what currently makes up Indonesia.

the 1950s, Sarmi weaving is hardly

Loebèr (1903: 57) designated the type

brought up in general descriptions of

of back strap loom used in Sarmi with

New Guinea. The first anthropologist of

an ongoing warp as a ‘nomadic loom’.

Papua cultures in western New Guinea,

Goslings, curator of the Koloniaal

Gerrit Jan Held, points at the possible

Museum in Haarlem7 mentions terfo

spreading of the weaving technique

production in Sawar. In his article ‘Het

from Micronesia and includes in his

primitiefste der primitieve Indonesische

publication an undated picture of a

weefgetouwen’ (The most primitive

man at a Sarmi loom (Held 1951: 12).

of primitive Indonesian looms), he

Interestingly, this man originates from

describes the Sarmi loom with its

Jakarta and is probably demonstrating

fastening and its way of stretching the

weaving techniques at a 1929 loom

warp, as an exception in the whole of the

exhibition in Batavia, current Jakarta.

Indonesian archipelago and most places

This image conjures up the question

of Oceania since the weaver tautens the

of why Held, chose the image of

warp by pushing away the warp beam

a non-Sarmi man to illustrate a

with her feet (Goslings 1928-1929: 119).

technique that was traditionally carried

Goslings tries to uncover the origin of

out by women.

Sarmi weaving by a technical analysis

It was not until the 1990s that

of the loom and a comparison with

researchers started paying attention

looms from Micronesia and Melanesia

to Sarmi weavings. Three of them were

(Goslings 1928-1929: 119-121). The

Shinobu Yoshimoto, former curator of

article is illustrated with a photograph

the National Museum of Ethnology in

by assistant resident Victor Obdeijn of

Osaka, in his study of looms of 1990

a Sarmi weaver working at her loom

(Yoshimoto in Howard & Sanggenafa

(Goslings 1928-1929: 119).

1999: 16-18), and anthropologists and

Publications from the 1950s onwards The above-mentioned publications examined mainly the weaving and the technical aspects of the loom and set up theories about the origin of weaving on Sarmi. From the early 1920s until

linguists Bob and Joyce Sterner in their ‘Research Notes of Selected Language and Cultures from Irian Jaya’ (Sterner & Sterner in Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 18). Remarkably, most Oceania experts did not show any interest in terfo.

Howard cites for instance Simon Kooijman and Jacques Hoogerbrugge’s articles in ‘Art of Northwest New Guinea’

7

The Koloniaal Instituut and Koloniaal Museum were the precursors of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, which is now part of the Wereldmuseum.

(Greub 1992), in which the authors make no reference to the textiles, although they cover the Wakde and 13

Yamna areas (Howard & Sanggenafa

research by anthropologists

1999:18). In Frank Herreman’s ‘Oceanië,

Howard and Sanggenafa (Howard

tekens van riten, symbolen en gedrag’,

& Sanggenafa 1999, 2005) and

terfo are left out (Herreman 2009).

researchers Marlina Flassy, Yosephine

Likewise, textile experts and

Griapon and Hanro Yonathan Lekitoo

curators of textiles in Indonesia never

in 2005 (Flassy et al. 2005: 74-91). All

paid attention to terfo, although many

of them conducted fieldwork in the

studies on the Indonesian archipelago

village of Sawar around 1995 and 2005.

including western New Guinea have

Howard and Sanggenafa chose this

been conducted from the 1970s up to

particular village as the site of field

now.8 In the concise works on textiles

research after they visited the provincial

in Indonesia of Mattiebelle Gittinger

museum of Jayapura and came across

‘Splendid Symbols, textiles and

terfo weavings and a loom that had

tradition in Indonesia’ (Gittinger 1985)

possibly originated from Sarmi (Howard

and of Robyn Maxwell ‘Textiles of

& Sangenaffa 1999: 9). The results of

Southeast Asia, Tradition, Trade and

fieldwork conducted in January 2023 in

Transformation’ (Maxwell 1992), terfo

the village of Sawar were published the

are absent. In addition, after the

same year (Buckley et al. 2023). Their

acquisition in 2006 of a sixth century

report refers to an inventory made by

bronze sculpture featuring a weaver on

Yapsenang and Kondologit (2015).

a body tension loom from Flores, similar

An imaginable reason for the neglect in

to the Sarmi loom, and entry into the

the study of terfo weavings might be that

collection of the National Gallery of

researchers interested in material culture

Australia, Maxwell ignores the terfo

tend to concentrate more on male art, such

textiles of New Guinea (Maxwell 2006:

as wood carvings that are often considered

11). John Gillow, a textile specialist

more visually arresting. The anthropologist

even denies the existence of a weaving

Anna-Karina Hermkens confirms this idea

tradition in New Guinea (Gillow in

when she argues that the barkcloth aprons,

Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 16).

maro, created by the Maisin women people

More recent documentation

of Collingwood Bay in Papua New Guinea

on terfo comes from fieldwork

were considered not so appealing as those made by the men and were therefore

8

Experts on Indonesian textiles always

neglected in research. Objects designed by

consider the political entity of Indonesia,

men and items used in rituals dominated

therefore including western New Guinea.

However, the eastern independent half of new Guinea, called Papua New Guinea is not studied. As New Guinea is usually described as being part of Oceania, the textile experts do not follow cultural boundaries.

14

by men simply attracted more attention (Hermkens 2013: 24).

Terfo in Sarmi social life In the social organisation of the Sarmi, several groups can be distinguished, each of which is subdivided into a number of clans. Every single group is led by the head of one of the clans.

Next to the clan leaders there is a village head, the satetum. The role of village head alternates between clans.

Men would have their meetings and ceremonies in the ceremonial and sacred house, the darma. Here, the young boys would be initiated, and masks, drums and holy flutes (rawit) for ceremonies were kept. It was forbidden for women to enter the house or even to hear the music of the holy flutes. On the other hand, women contributed to the ceremonies by weaving terfo for the rituals. Terfo were traditionally divided in two groups: terfotapo and terfo (Howard & Sanggenafa 1996: 10).

Terfotapo had a special status and were used by ritual specialists and village leaders at ceremonies in the darma.

Terfo were for everyone, possibly worn both as ceremonial dress and daily wear.

According to Howard and Sanggenafa (1999:10) and Flassy et al.

(2005: 81), terfotapo were stored in the darma, but the literature about

Corbey 2022, personal communication).

It would appear that the darma generally held sacred flutes. Protestant missionary Frans Johan van Hasselt writes in his letters to the Utrechtse Zendingsvereeniging (Utrecht Mission Society) that in the darma on the island of Yamna (Hasselt spells it Djamna) there is nothing to be seen inside except a couple of long bamboo flutes (Hasselt 1911: 248).9

Clothing Terfotapo resemble the general rectangular shape, colour and design of terfo, but have fringes on all four edges instead of only on two (Flassy et al. 2005: 87). Terfotapo were the prerogative of the village head and his offspring and worn on special occasions. At the wedding of the daughter of a village head, the bride would be dressed with a terfotapo on each shoulder. The village head or his son would also don them (Howard & Sanggenafa 1996: 10). Sacred textiles were woven only by women of a certain clan: in Sawar, women of the Merne clan, and in Bagaiserwar, those of the Bakai clan oversaw the weaving (Kamma 1978: 68). With the arrival of Christianity around 1912, the darma were burnt down and replaced

the objects kept in the darma does not make mention of woven cloths.

However, it is known that barkcloth was present in the men’s houses of Cenderawasih Bay (Raymond

9

The Wereldmuseum Rotterdam collection houses sacred flutes collected by protestant missionary Van Hasselt from the Utrechtse Zendingsvereeniging and sent to the Wereldmuseum in 1912.

15

by churches. Flutes and masks were

on the Marshall Islands in Micronesia.

serve in the ceremonies, but terfotapo

De Clercq describes the way the two

were not kept. This coincided with the

cloths are worn by women on Yamna

increased availability of commercial

Island, one in the front and one in

woven cotton that was more valued

the back, partially folded over a belt,

than the handwoven terfotapo and

so the fringes are hanging down

had replaced it completely as a

(Clercq 1893: 49).

clothing item by 1920 (Howard & Sanggenafa 1999:16). Hence, there was no need for weaving the sacred terfotapo anymore.

Women of all the clans were tasked with weaving terfo mainly as ceremonial clothing. It is not clear if terfo were worn as casual clothing as well. Presumably, undecorated barkcloth or palm leaves for hip cloths for daily wear were common, as seen elsewhere on the mainland and islands.

Johan Christiaan van Eerde – director of the Ethnographic Department of the Colonial Institute in Amsterdam who collected terfo in 1929 – complicates the discussion on whether terfo were used as daily or as ceremonial wear.

He mentions on the inventory card that he has not seen people wearing these ‘[terfo] skirts’; he only saw people in what he calls ‘their festive dress’, which suggests that they were worn as everyday cloth and not as ceremonial cloth (RV-578-15A). As dance aprons for women, a set was worn, one in the front and one in the back, over the hips tied together around the waist with a plaited cord of palm or bast fibres.

This is comparable, for instance, with 16

the way fine mat skirts were wrapped

safeguarded as sacred objects to

Life cycle rituals Besides clothing, terfo played an important role in gift exchanging during life cycle ceremonies. As such, it was part of the bride price (sisoranwean), consisting of three terfo cloths next to a bracelet of shell (simbis), serpai, which are nets made of sago fibre, and a bed’a, a little basket being a fish container (Flassy et al. 2005: 88). Terfo cloths were important at birth ceremonies. The mother of the baby to be born wove one to four terfo to cover the baby. She also prepared terfo as gifts for the midwife and the family members who helped with the birthing, i.e. her sisters and the sisters of her husband. Furthermore, terfo were required at the naming ceremony and for coming down the stairs when mother and baby first left the stilt house (Flassy et al. 2005: 83).

As a medium of reciprocity, when a terfo was given, a return gift was expected. Terfo, hence had an important function as barter for stone axes and body decorations. Regarding the latter, people from Sarmi exchanged terfo with armlets, girdles, and brow bands from Tarpia, a village to the east, known for

Figure 3. Sarmi weaver at her back strap loom weaving a terfo. Photograph donated in 1908 by Louis Albert van Oosterzee, assistant-resident of Northern New Guinea.

Wereldmuseum Rotterdam WM-9047525, Nederlands Fotomuseum 687b0ca1-c059-5055-4baf-ea78bdebee9f.

its woven body decorations (Van der

and palm leaves are commonly applied in

Sande 1907: 237).

Indonesia and Micronesia, while on the

The making of terfo Common for cloth in the subtropical areas of Oceania is the use of natural bast, plant and tree fibres that are present in the luxuriant natural surroundings. Fibres of the stems of banana palms, bark of hibiscus branches,

northern coast of New Guinea and on the offshore islands palm is the supplier of weaving material. Early sources mention that the Sobei-speaking people generally call terfo the weavings prepared from the leaf fibres of the pe’a or kara, which is identified as the nibung palm. However, the nibung palm (Oncosperma tigillarium) does not grow in New Guinea. Therefore, 17

it is more likely that the fibres of the

and do not differ from more recent

Pigafetta filaris are the source material

accounts. The creation method collated

(Buckley et al. 2023: 15).

below derives from the former museum

The indigenous palm grows behind

records and recent research data.

the coastline and land inward in the

Carefully selected leaves – they

swampy mangrove areas. The leaves

must not be damaged nor broken – are

are two to four meters long, elegantly

cut from the palm tree, either by men

arched and finely pinnated with

or women. For the best quality thread,

sharp drooping leaflets. The thread is

the leaves should be harvested before

prepared from these leaflets and not

the trees have produced fruit, on the

from the leaves, which often remains

fourth day after a morning ebb tide.

unclear in historic documents and

Harvesting therefore takes place during

literature. Indeed, Snelleman (1908: 31)

the fourteen days after a full moon.

describes the leaflets as the ‘fibres of

During this period, two perfect leaves

the young, not yet unfolded leaves of a

will grow (Flassy et al. 2005: 85).

palm species’ that have much similarity

The leaflets are then stripped

with the sago palm, or it is related in

from their midribs and folded into

general as ‘the leaves of the young

bundles, that are dried for three days

nibung palm’10 or as ‘strips of palm leave

to enable the separation of the fibres

fibres’ (figure 3).

from the leaflets. Before detaching

11

Making threads The collectors of the museum objects described the production process of the threads in the donation records.

In 1995, Howard and Sanggenafa wrote down their observations and so did in 2005, in more detail, Flassy, Griapon and Lekitoo during their field research in Sawar. The ways of preparing the thread are noted in historical records

the fibres, the leaflets are boiled and soaked in seawater. With a sharp item the leaflets are scraped to obtain the white fibres. These are then cleaned in seawater and eventually rinsed in fresh water. As a final step, the bunches of fibres are dried in the sun. The resulting white and glossy fibres of approximately 50-70 cm length are now ready to be transformed into thread.

They are divided into filaments, which are knotted together to form

10

This is information from assistant-resident

single threads long enough to be used

Obdeijn 1923, upon donation of terfo

either as the warp on the loom or

numbered TM-169-62.

11

This information was provided on the back of a photograph (WM-904725) that is attributed to G.A.J. van der Sande. Whether the handwritten information is also from his hand is not clear.

18

the weft. This technique of extending the fibres by knotting was and still is common throughout Southeast Asia and Micronesia, where plant fibre is

Figure 4. Detail of terfo on loom with knots in the warp, the weft and the fringes, RV-578-11.

Photograph: Linda Hanssen, 2022.

Figure 5. Numerous knots in the warp as well as in the weft. The knots are either to extend the thread or to smooth the fibre, RV-1052-115.

Photograph: Linda Hanssen, 2022.

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omnipresent. Additional knotting of the

terfo, of which the colours are still bright

filaments is done to keep the thread

red and yellow.

smooth. Traditional terfo are therefore

With this colour range, the Sobei

characterised by the numerous knots –

produced textiles with simple chequered

to extend the thread and smooth

patterns and stripes – the simplest forms

the fibre – in both the warp and the

of pattern weaving – and occasionally

weft (figure 4 & 5). For contemporary

patterns resembling plaiting structures.

terfo, fibres are made into a thread

The combination of the colours created

by twisting the ends into each other

by the amount of the coloured thread in

through rolling the fibres over the thigh

the warp and weft is of an unassuming

instead of knotting them (Howard &

beauty. Terfo of mainly red colours are

Sanggenafa 1996: 9).

called termodi-erfè, matching the colour-

Dyeing Before weaving the terfo, the threads are dyed into white, red, yellow, blue and black, the five basic colours of traditional terfo. The dyes derive from the roots, fruits and leaves of indigenous plants and trees. White (fepamo) is the natural colour of the undyed fibre. There is one cloth (WM-24340) where white machine spun

pattern of a particular sea fish. The yellow-coloured ones are named after a kind of a caterpillar, memsofido-erfè. The anthropologist Van der Leeden mentions that memsòfidò actually refers to the chequered pattern as fidò stands for the stripy rib of a certain kind of leave called memsò.12 The yellow terfo are given to girls coming of age.13

thread is used in the weft. Yellow (yoni/

Weaving

feyone) comes from the turmeric tubers

The weaving of traditional terfo is done

(Curcuma longa); red (federo/federa) is

on a simple foot-braced body-tension

derived from the roots of the mare tree

loom with an ongoing warp (figure 6).

(Ailanthus altissima), while the fruits of

The female weaver sits on the ground

the menwafo tree, the so-called ‘blue

with the strap (idodai) around her

ink tree,’ provide the blue and those of

back attached to the beam in her lap

the indigenous menoerta tree the black

(figure 3). With this breast beam (ifduai),

(femeno) colours (Flassy et al. 2005: 86,

the weaver can put tension on the

Buckley et al. 2023: 6). In the terfo, many

warp threads in front of her. Her feet

shades of the main colours are present,

too, are manipulating the tension of

probably due to difference in dye baths

the thread by pressing the warp beam

and to the influence of light and wearing.

The museum collections contain different balls of dyed threads and some unused

12

Van der Leeden writes this information on the inventory record of RV-3219-2.

13

Information on inventory record 7082-S-1918-1.

20

Figure 7. Back strap loom. Drawing adapted from Seiler-Baldinger (1994: 78). a: warp beam, b: shed rod, c: heddle rod, d: sword, e: shuttle to insert the weft thread, f: breast beam.

Figure 7. Black painted wooden breast beam with carved decorations on both sides, donated by Victor Obdeijn in 1923, 104 × 6 cm, TM-169-59. (bedmè/bedmafo) forward or backward

part towards her, so that new warp

at the other end of the warp threads.

threads appear and the weaving can

Each warp thread is wound around the

be seen under the unwoven part. The

two beams and the ends are knotted

weaving is done in a plain weave.

together, which makes a continuous

The heddle (nenggiro) is pulled up to

circle between the two beams. While

separate the even and uneven warps

weaving, the weaver moves the woven

and is attached to the warp threads 21

either by palm fibre or machine-spun

the warp threads, and thus determines

cotton. The shed stick (beöro/booro)

the length of a woven textile (see

behind the heddle prepares the space

figure 3). A terfo measures in general

to insert the weft thread. When the

between 60 cm in width and 110 cm

weaving is finished, a tubular textile is

(including the fringes) in length. The

taken off the loom. A small part is left

overall dimensions may vary following

unwoven and is cut across to provide

the size of a weaver’s body. Almost all

the fringes on both sides of the terfo.

terfo differ about 8-15 cm in width at

This type of loom is regarded as

the top and bottom due to the absence

one of the first looms in the transition

of temples while weaving to keep the

from plaiting to weaving. Typical for

fabric at equal width.

the Sarmi loom is the breast beam with carvings of curvilinear patterns and human figures along an oval hole on one side and a fork-like end on the other side (figure 7). The back strap of a fibre material is tied through the hole and slung around the back of the weaver while the other end is attached to the fork. Characteristic is also the sword (edsi) with its oval shape and sharp ends to open the even and odd warp threads, thereby enabling the shuttles (senggoni) to be passed through, and to beat down every time a weft thread is inserted.

The size of a woven textile in general corresponds to the measurements of a weaver’s body parts. Accordingly, the length measured from the middle finger to the elbow determines the width of a cloth. Indeed, the weaver cannot possibly put the shuttle through the weaving over a longer distance. In the case of a back strap loom with a continuous warp, it is the length of the legs, which press the warp beam to modulate the tension on 22

Terfo in Dutch collections, their provenance The research of terfo in Dutch collections is chronologically closely associated with the introduction of the 32 terfo in the Netherlands during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. New Guinea was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries not the focus of scientific expeditions, traders and missionaries. It was not until the nineteenth century, when the colonial expansion of the East Indies was thriving, that Indonesian artifacts started enriching the collections.

New Guinea was at that time ‘still a blank spot on the map, renowned in legends for its naked, savage, headhunting Papuans’ (Wassing 1988: 109). Compared to the western and southern coastal parts of New Guinea, the Sobei of the northern coast and the offshore islands of New Guinea were according to Howard and Sanggenafa (1996: 12) much more isolated and had

few foreign contacts before the Dutch

Missiemuseum in Steyl and Stichting

encounters. The first Dutch traders

Papua Erfgoed (PACE).15 Terfo and the looms on which

and explorers were met by hostile inhabitants, and collecting artifacts was

they were woven were found in the

hardly possible. From 1882 till 1978,

collections of the museums of the

artifacts from the Sarmi region and

Wereldmuseum. In total 29 terfo

the offshore islands arrived in the

and 9 complete back strap looms,

Netherlands, collected by men including

some with partially woven terfo on it,

first explorers, governmental officials

are present in the collections of the

and clergymen/administrators, then

Wereldmuseum in Amsterdam, Leiden

missionaries, private collectors and

and Rotterdam. In addition, parts of

museum directors.

looms, balls of palm fibres and warping-

To trace terfo weavings and looms in

up frames are conserved. Two terfo

the Netherlands, I conducted research

are kept in the Museon Omniversum

in several institutions housing New

in the Hague and one in museum

Guinea collections. The collection of

Princessehof in Leeuwarden.

the University of Groningen (RUG) and the former collection of the Nijmeegs Volkenkundig Museum of the Radboud University of Nijmegen had no terfo weavings nor looms. This was also the 14

case for Museum Bronbeek in Arnhem,

Dutch colonial government officials With the growing colonial trade in the Dutch East Indies, many objects came to Dutch museums. Most of the terfo and looms were collected by (assistant) residents, and government officials

14

The collection of the Nijmeegs Volkenkundig Museum was after its closure in 2005 split into the Beijens collection, which is now stored in Museum Bronbeek (a museum with a focus on the colonial military history of the Dutch East Indies) in Arnhem, and the collections of the Nederlands Volkenkundig Missie Museum in Tilburg that closed in 1987.

stationed in Ternate and Manokwari.

Some of these collectors in service of the Dutch government had a good eye and minutely documented the material, the dyeing methods, the indigenous names for colours and the conditions under which weaving was done.

The latter collection was given as a long-term loan to the Ethnographic Collections of the University of Gent. According to the retired

The first terfo arrived in the Netherlands in 1882 as a submission

curator Pauline van der Zee, no terfo are present in the collection. I searched online the collection of the museum Bronbeek with

15

Museon Omniversum holds a collection

no result on terfo. At the time of the research

focussing on nature, culture and technology.

in 2022 the museum was under construction

PACE digitalises and makes accessible Papua

and the access for further research in the

cultural heritage and artifacts in general.

collection was not possible.

Both hold a small collection.

23

to the Internationale Koloniale- en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling (International Colonial and Export Exhibition), also called the ‘World Exhibition’, held in 1883 in Amsterdam, where countries showed their colonial trade products and treasures. The Netherlands presented a dazzling wide range of products from the Dutch East and West Indies gathered by the network of Dutch employees in the colonies. Two terfo were shown (RV-370-3830 and RV- 370-3831) and mentioned in the catalogue in the Textile Department as ‘No. 157, Some garments and jewellery from Wakidé Island, New Guinea, no 1 two women’s sarongs or skirts’ (Musschenbroek 1883: 232).16 Also from the collection of Museum Nusantara, in Delft17 two terfo were presented at the World Exhibition (7082-S-1918-1 and 7082-S-82-4).

On the island of Wakde, assistant resident L.A. van Oosterzee collected two terfo that he donated in 1908 – together with a loom – to the Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam (figure 8). The gift was accompanied by a photograph of a Sarmi weaver (figure 3). Victor Obdeijn, the resident of

16

Author’s translation from the following Dutch text: ‘57. Eenige kleedingstukken

Ternate, granted to the Tropenmuseum, together with a terfo, another photograph of a weaver, taken in 1922.

De facto, these are the only pictures known of Sarmi weavers from the early twentieth century.18 In 1935, W.A.

en sieraden van het eiland Wakidé Nieuw

Hovenkamp, former resident of Ternate,

Guinea. 1.Twee vrouwensarongs of rokken.’

offered two terfo to the Museon.19

(Musschenbroek 1883: 232).

17

Figure 8. Loom and terfo from Sarmi depicted in the 1908 annual report of the Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde en Maritiem museum ‘Prins Hendrik’. L.A. van Oosterzee donated the loom (WM-15225) and two terfo (WM-15227 & WM-15228) to the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam in 1908.

The Museum Nusantara focusing on the Dutch East Indies opened in 1911 and closed

18

arrived at the Wereldmuseum.

24

Photograph depicted in Goslings (1928-1929: 120).

its doors in 2014. A large part of the collection 19

Inventory numbers 48373 and 48374.

Figure 9. Sarmi loom collected by Johan Christiaan van Eerde for the exhibition ‘Weefsels en weefgetouwen uit Nederlandsch-Indië’ (Weavings and looms from the Dutch East Indies) at the Colonial Institute in 1929-1930, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam TM-600054950.

The Dutch government also initiated

officers collected terfo (RV-3600-7485),

expeditions and scientific research with

the Dutch navy, stationed at various

archaeologists, medics, and physicists.

posts in the area, took part in

For instance, De Clercq and Schmeltz

expeditions and also supplied terfo.

undertook an ethnological journey

In 1887, lieutenant at sea August

along the west and north coasts of New

Eduard Zimmerman gave a terfo to the

Guinea in 1883, and medical officer Van

Museum Volkenkunde. In 1935, J. Crans,

der Sande, the Nederlandsche Nieuw-

doctor and lieutenant commander,

Guinea-Expedition (Dutch New Guinea

donated a terfo to the Museon which is

Expedition) in 1903 led by Professor Dr.

now in the Museum Princessehof.20

Carl Ernst Wichmann. These journeys have been accurately described and the terfo collected are in the Wereldmuseum Leiden and Rotterdam.

Besides military expeditions, where

20

Hip cloth 48827 was part of a collection assembled in 1890. It was transferred to the Princessehof in 1938 for unknown reasons. (written communication with Corine Bliek, curator-registrar Museon Omniversum the Hague).

25

Museums Museums have traditionally been acquiring both terfo and the looms on which they were made. Besides strongly encouraging the practice or having close contacts with collectors, museum directors and curators went on collecting trips themselves. The first director of the Colonial Museum in Amsterdam, Johan Christiaan van Eerde, was concerned about the traditional artistic traditions in Indonesia, fearing they would be lost. In 1929, he undertook a collecting and purchasing trip to Indonesia to fill the gaps in the museum’s objects, including textiles. In cooperation with B.M. Goslings, who had been appointed textile expert at the museum in 1913, they decided the main focus should be on the loom collection that was incoherent and incomplete. When Van Eerde arrived in Batavia (current Jakarta), he visited the exhibition of looms from all over the Indonesian archipelago, put together by the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences. Demonstrations in weaving were given and Sarmi culture was represented by weaver Puerba of the Merne clan from Sawar. Van Eerde took pictures of the weavers at the

26

New Guinea he purchased five Sarmi looms (TM- 578-11-11 to TM- 578-11-14) and three terfo (TM-556-137, TM-578-15a and TM-578-15b). Back in Amsterdam, Van Eerde organised in 1930 the exhibition ‘Weefsels en weefgetouwen uit Nederlandsch-Indië’ (Weavings and looms from the Dutch East Indies) in the museum, where he showed the loom, together with the terfo and the picture of Puerba Merne (figure 9).

In 1955 government anthropologist Alexander Cornelis van der Leeden acquired a terfo and a loom (RV3219-1 & RV-3219-2) for the Museum Volkenkunde. He conducted fieldwork in the interior of the Sarmi regency in the 1950s, which resulted in his doctoral thesis entitled ‘Hoofdtrekken der Sociale Structuur in het Westelijk Binnenland van Sarmi’ (Main Characteristics of the Social Structure in the Western Interior of Sarmi). In 1978, he donated another terfo (RV-4976-3). The last terfo to enter the Dutch collections in the 20th century was a donation in 1995 by anthropologist and colonial administration official Klaas Wilhelm Galis (7082-19181).

exhibition and after the show he was able

Missions

to buy a number of looms from those

Protestant and Roman Catholic

presented. He could also acquire for

missionaries played a significant

the museum the looms displayed at the

role in the collection development of

Pacific Science Congress, where he was

Dutch museums. The Wereldmuseum

a participant. Besides looms, he bought

Rotterdam already had close ties

fabrics (Van Hout 2017: 101). When he

with the Nederlandsch Zendeling

travelled along the northern coast of

Genootschap (Dutch Protestant

Missionary Society, NZG), that had

of clothes. Van Hasselt amassed

its headquarters in Rotterdam,

about 300 items that are now in the Field

and later also with the Utrechtse

Museum in Chicago, USA. Other UZV

Zendingsvereeniging (Utrecht Protestant

missionaries also carried out this work.

Mission Union, UZV). Missionaries

Popular were the sacred flutes, many

stationed on the west coast, in Teluk

of which are in the collection of the

Cenderawasih and Dore Bay, Bird’s Head

Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam. Through

Peninsula and from Wandamen, Windesi

the UZV, Van Hasselt collected a terfo

and Yamna Island on the Northern coast

(WM-19632), two complete looms, and a

took items with them on their leave

breast beam (WM-21183 to WM-21185)

to the Netherlands to display to their

from the island of Wakde.

backers at exhibitions and lectures, as

To avoid conflicts between the

well as for sale to fund evangelisation.

Protestant and Catholic missionaries,

A defining role was played by the

the Dutch government instituted a

Protestant missionary Frans Johan

geographical division. The operation

Frederik van Hasselt. He arrived in the

area of the Protestant missionaries

Sarmi region on Wakde Island and the

was limited to the northern part of

northern coast in 1912 after successfully

western New Guinea, while the Catholic

leading the conversion of the Dore

missionaries were assigned the southern

Bay region. He was known for his

part (Wassing 1988: 110). It is presumably

gentle attitude towards preserving the

the reason why no terfo have been found

traditional culture of the communities.

in the collections of the Catholic mission.

Without obvious coercion, he still

This policy was abandoned around 1927,

encouraged people to embrace the new

but by the time the Catholic missionaries

faith. The ambivalent result was that

settled in the north, the wearing of terfo

he had access to the sacred objects

had already been replaced by clothing

in the darmas and was able to obtain

made of cotton and of Western cut.

those when the latter were destroyed to make way for churches and Christian schools. He was a well-known figure in the trade of objects – symbols of the old traditions and religion – as can be read in the 1909-1913 Melanesia expedition diaries of anthropologist and curator Albert Buell Lewis (Welsh 1913: 528, 533).

He asks Van Hasselt to collect artifacts for him for the Field Museum in Chicago in return for payment and exchange

On the provenance of weaving in Sarmi Origin myths In many societies in Southeast Asia and Micronesia, weaving has specific origin myths. In Sundanese lore on Java, the goddess of rice and weaving is Nyi Pohatji, after her Hindu name 27

also called Dewi Sri, who spun thread

the leaflets was broken by children.

from the diamond fruit and created

To ensure she could continue making

the loom from the parts of her body

thread, the children’s mothers helped

(Veldhuisen 1984: 27-29). On the island

the old woman and so the knowledge

of Sumba, myths tell of how the island

was transferred to the people of

is suspended by warp threads in the

Sawar. Puerba of the Merne clan was

sky and tied to the bottom of the sea.

the one who took over the weaving

The strands of fibres pass through the

(Flassy et al. 2005: 85). The Merne

centre of the island, keeping it afloat

held the highest position within the

(Geirnaert 1993: 10). In Micronesia,

clans of Sawar, who were traditionally

weaving is seen as a gift from the gods

responsible for sacred affairs, such as

(d’Alleva 1998: 137). Two myths also

the maintenance of men’s houses and

exist among the Sarmi of Bagaiserwar

sacred flutes. The weaving of sacred

and Sawar. In Bagaiserwar, one of

terfo, the terfotapo, was reserved to

the clans, namely the Daber, plays a

the Merne clan. A noteworthy fact is

role in weaving. The primal ancestor

that Puerba Merne was recognised in

Daber, a human-shaped spirit, founds

the photo in Goslings’ article during

after a flood, a society in Bagaiserwar

Howard and Sanggenafa’s fieldwork

with the different clans: Daber,

in 1996 (Howard & Sanggenafa 1999:

Awéte, Sawen, Ama and Bakai. From

16).21 The story of Teyem is hence

each clan that joins, he expects a

relatively recent and can be traced back

contribution and gives them a task.

to still living weavers. Unlike other

The Bakai clan was entrusted with

origin myths, a date or time cannot be

the art of weaving (Kamma 1978: 68).

indicated. Further research into this

Missionary and anthropologist Freerk

source might offer more insight into

Kamma mentions that at the time of

the origins of terfo weaving.

his research during the 1970s only one old woman was still weaving, and that nobody in the clan knew when the art of weaving was introduced (Kamma 1978: 174). In Sawar, the weaving of terfo was introduced to the Merne clan by an old woman from the Senis clan. This woman, called Teyem, was preparing the leaves of a palm tree to make the thread for terfo weaving when her earthenware container in which she was boiling 28

Austronesian migrants The technique of weaving and the loom construction can offer insight in the origin of the craft among the Sarmi. But the type of weaving and the wearing on the body can also offer comparative 21

Higher it was mentioned that the same Puerba Merne demonstrated weaving in 1929 at an exhibition of looms and fabrics from different regions, held by the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences in current Jakarta.

materials with other societies. Several

the National Gallery of Australia in 2006

observations, assumptions and theories

(Maxwell 2006: 16).22

have been made about this in the past, but a unified theory has yet to emerge.

There are three ideas about the origins.

Howard and Sanggenafa opt for a provenance source in Austronesian culture (Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 13). They underscore the notion of specialist in Austronesian languages and archaeologist Peter Bellwood, who points out that the making and the wearing of barkcloth was in common use, that Austronesian migrants brought weaving with them around 1500-2000 BC and that it reached only the part of the Sobei-speaking population and persisted there (Bellwood in Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 13). Anthropologists Nico de Jonge and Toos van Dijk state that there is evidence that Austronesian migrants who settled first on the Moluccas travelled on, to parts of New Guinea to settle ( Jonge & Dijk 1995: 21). As such, weaving in the Sarmi region could be a prehistoric survival.

Nevertheless, they also state ‘however, relating art forms to Indonesia’s prehistoric cultures has become highly debatable’ ( Jonge & Dijk 1995: 21). This

Trade A second theory proposes that trading brought the knowledge of loom weaving to the northern coast of New Guinea. Trade relations with the Moluccas are known, and so are those with Chinese merchants who had settlements at the coast. According to Van Oosterzee, the art of weaving was not originally known to the people of the Sobei speaking languages. He asserts it was common for praus from the Moluccas to drift to the north coast of New Guinea. Those on board used to be killed by the coastal population west of Cape d´Urville; conversely, east of it, they were kindly welcomed by the Sobei. Van Oosterzee hypothesises that there may have been women among them who mastered weaving and continued to do so during their captivity (Snelleman 1908: 30). That the Sarmi weaving and the loom might have an origin in China is shown by a depiction of the same foot braced body tension loom still in use by a Li woman in Hainan in China in the late 20th century (Maxwell 2006: 11).

theory is still under discussion as is also stated by Maxwell in search of the origins of the bronze statue of a weaver dated to the sixth century, acquired by

22

The existence of the bronze statue was brought to the world through photographs of the statue taken by anthropologist David Stuart-Fox and published by textile historian Marie Jeanne Adams (1977: 87-109).

29

Figure 10. Map by Henry Ling Roth (1917: 365), showing the diffusion of the Indonesian loom into Micronesia. It opened up the possibility for Gerrit Jan Held to suggest that weaving at Sarmi originated from the St. Matthias Islands, as seen on the dotted line.

Similar looms A third option points to the similarity of the Sarmi back strap looms with those of the islands of Ceram, Sangir, Talaud and Tanimbar (Moluccas), all of which lie west of New Guinea. Also alike are the back strap looms of Micronesia such as those of the Caroline Islands, the islands of Chuuk, Pohnpei, Mortlock, Kosrae and Nukuoro as well as on Yap and the Melanesian Santa Cruz Islands east of the Solomon Islands. There 30

was a weaving culture of fabrics made from fine fibres of the banana palm and hibiscus. Moreover, the oval sword with pointed ends and the weaving spools are the same as those of the Caroline Islands (Roth 1917: 355). All these looms have a continuous warp and lack a temple to keep the fabric at equal width. However, they differ from the Sarmi loom in the way the warp is kept in tension. A Sarmi weaver does this by pressing the warp with her feet, while in all the other looms the warp is tied

to a pole or secured between supports

to Sarmi, while St. Matthias, based on

keeping the fabric under tension and

the data from Roth (1917) and Goslings

making it longer than a terfo. This is

(1928-1929), is the end of the route on

probably the precursor of the Sarmi

the map (figure 10). In turn, the weaving

foot-braced body-tension loom – also

tradition of Micronesia originated

a back strap loom – where the warp

from contacts with Indonesian traders

beam is attached with a rope to the

(d’Alleva 1998: 137, Rubinstein 1986: 46)

poles of a house or post, and thus not

and with the Southeast Asian islands

manipulated by the feet but by moving

(Petrosia 2009: 105).

the back (Goslings 1928-1929: 117).

All these theories do not provide

A loom comparable with that

a unified answer to the question of

of the Sarmi was seen by Richard

what the origin of terfo weaving was

Parkinson, entrepreneur and explorer

among the Sobei-speaking peoples.

in the Bismarck Archipelago in the

The missionaries played no role in the

early 20th century. During his 30-year stay

emergence of weaving. Unlike activities

in the Pacific, he came across the weaving

elsewhere in Indonesia and the Pacific

of pubic aprons on a similar loom, but

where they introduced new techniques,

narrower, in the islands of Mussau and

such as sewing, embroidery and

Emirau, part of the St. Matthias Islands

crochet, in the Sarmi region they only

located northwest of New Ireland. The

brought in woven commercial cottons

weavers make bands for women and men

and strict all-covering Western clothing.

in a stripe pattern worn around the waist,

The arrival of missionaries contributed

with two cloths passed underneath, one

to the end of the weaving tradition.

in front and one behind (Parkinson 1907: 143). According to Parkinson, these bands are quite identical to the bands – tol – of Kosrae. Together with Henry Ling Roth, anthropologist and expert on weaving technology, he therefore assumed that weaving came to the St. Matthias Islands via the Caroline Islands. Others held different opinions, such as anthropologist Held (1951: 12-13), and he is not the only one, who sees as a source for weaving on Sarmi, a connection with the St. Matthias Islands, thus assuming an influence from Micronesia. In doing so, he draws the line from St. Matthias (Mussau and Emirau)

Terfo weaving today When Anton Ploeg was in Jayapura in 2016, he bought two narrow terfo fabrics from Monika Sefa (figure 11).

She was weaving at a Papua fair using a wooden framed loom. Terfo weaving still exists thanks to the old women within the various clans of Sawar and Bagaiserwar.

They passed on their knowledge to younger generations. However, these are not always open to the craft because preparing the fibres and weaving itself are time-consuming and does not yield 31

Figure 11. Contemporary terfo woven by Monika Sefa and, collected by Anton Ploeg in 2016 in Jayapura.

32

much. Those who try, do so mainly out of

learned it from her mother Adonia

respect for the ancestors and therefore

Roti, who had learned it from Aneta

want to preserve the weaving tradition of

Weasu, the weaver from whom Van der

the Sarmi.

Leeden bought the terfo. Cornelia Zeifan

The tradition of terfo weaving

was taught by her sisters in 1983 and

gradually disappeared with the

in 2005 – at the time of Flassy and

introduction of imported commercially

colleagues’ research – she passed on

woven cotton fabrics around 1920.

weaving to her son and daughter.

Native cloth worn during ceremonies

The children indicate that they want

was replaced by cotton. Thus, imported

to weave terfo to continue staying in

fabrics also replaced the sacred terfo,

touch with the ancestors. But also,

the terfotapo. After the destruction of

terfo weaving will help them if they

the men’s houses, in which the terfotapo

need finances in the future (Flassy et al.

were kept, and the introduction of

2005: 90). Therefore, to hold on to the

cotton cloth, there was no real need to

weaving tradition, opportunities are

weave anymore and weaving fell into

sought that will make weaving easier. As

neglect. Until 1980, weaving was hardly

early as 1978, for instance, Yoshimoto

practised. In Sawar, Puerba Merne of the

introduced a loom, also of the simple

Merne clan was the keeper of weaving.

back strap loom type, where the warp

In 1995, she is recognised by fellow

beam could be attached to a pole in

villagers in Obdeijn’s 1923 photograph.

the ground or to the house, similar to

Her name is frequently mentioned in

the loom one sees in Micronesia. This

researchers’ accounts. Van der Leeden,

meant the weaver no longer had to sit

who purchased a loom and terfo for the

on the ground but could use a chair or

Museum Volkenkunde in 1955, mentions

bench (Howard & Sanggenafa 1999:

that the weaver is Anita Weasu of the

12). Preparing the weaving threads is

Weasu23 clan (or Anita Iroti after her

difficult and time-consuming. Replacing

husband’s clan) of Sawar. In the middle

it with woollen yarn is considered

of the twentieth century, Yomina Sefa

agreeable, but it does not have the same

of the Sefa clan was also active (Flassy

association with cloth from the ancestors

et al. 2005: 89-90). From 1980 onwards,

(Flassy et al. 2005: 90). To ensure that

daughters of weavers were instructed in

the traditional heritage of the Sarmi

weaving at an early age. These include

is preserved and to provide income

Ida Sefa and Cornelia Zeifan. Ida Sefa

for the inhabitants, a cooperative – Taman Seni Karya Bahagia Group – was

23

Alexander van der Leeden (1956) uses the Dutch language inspired spelling of ‘Wejasu’.

The spelling of ‘Weasu’ as used by Flassy et al.

(2005) is most likely more up to date.

formed in 1992. Its aim was to promote traditional woodcarving, music and weaving, with the latter being the main 33

Figure 12. Terfo with plaited fringe, presented on the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in Amsterdam, 1883. Palm fibres in plain weave, 59 × 68 cm, Wereldmuseum Leiden RV-370-3830.

Figure 13. Detail of terfo with plaited and cut fringe, collected by F.S.A. de Clercq in 1888 and donated by P.M.W. Trap in 1893. Palm fibre in plain weave, 55 × 70 cm Wereldmuseum Leiden RV-929-261.

34

branch (Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 18).

role of the terfo in colonial history and

The cooperative provides a somewhat

museum history.

supportive role, but not enough to keep terfo weaving alive.

The weavers focused on the

Interestingly, only one type of terfo was collected. It served as a hip cloth for women, but also played an

commercial sale of the fabrics. The

important role as a gift in the exchange

Sarmi themselves do not seem

of goods between groups.

interested in terfo from the palm and if

The borders finishing off the

they do, they prefer commercial woollen

production of the terfo weaving are

yarn. Terfo from palm is appreciated by

either with or without fringes. Most of

people outside the Sarmi community.

the terfo found in the collections have an

However, terfo are woven locally as

unfinished loose fringe (figure 1 and 5).

clothing for dance ceremonies and

Noticeable are three pieces (RV-602-121,

competitions, organised and sponsored

RV-929-261, TM-111-496) without a

by the government. Terfo are also sold

fringe but with a border, where the

on these occasions. An important

fringe is plaited in a pattern or a V-shape

annual event is the dance competition

(figure 12 and 13). As mentioned before,

between the two weaving villages

a special group within the terfo are the

Sawar and Bagaiserwar, held in August

terfotapo, the sacred cloths kept in men’s

(Howard & Sanggenafa 1999: 16). Men

houses. They would have fringes on four

and women are then decked out in

sides instead of two, but these were not

breast and hip cloths; and strikingly, the

found in the collections. It is unclear

chequered patterns have been replaced

what they looked like and how the

by striped fabrics (figure 11). The

fringe was attached on four sides. Since

weaving tradition is still there but hangs

researchers have not seen examples and

by a ‘terfo’ thread.

may not have had the necessary weaving

Concluding remarks The group of 32 terfo and the nine looms forms a unique part of the New Guinea collection of Dutch museums. Collected between 1880 and 1980, with the majority dating from the 1880-1910 period, the Dutch collections reflect the history of the terfo of the Sobei-speaking population who wove and used them, as well as the

knowledge, the interpretations of fringes on four sides might have been incorrect.

A fringe is created at the top and bottom ends of a weaving by leaving the warp threads partly unwoven. Fringes can also be created by inserting loose threads along the selvedge of the weaving, but I have not come across this method.

Whether the terfo with plaited fringes could be a terfotapo would require further investigation.

35

Since two terfo were worn at the

Bibliography

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Remarkably, I consulted many sources but could not find photographs showing how terfo were actually worn. This issue certainly deserves further research.

The research has unlocked a small part of the collections. A group of unique fabrics with the unique looms on which they were woven by the Sobei-speaking peoples on the Northern coast of New Guinea has long been underexposed and deserves further research. As such, terfo in Dutch collections also offer insight for the Sobei-speaking people into their largely disappeared and waning weaving tradition. Moreover, it could play a role in maintaining that heritage!

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38

Vol. I, Field Diaries. Honolulu: University of

Provenance of the Prankemon sarongs Sabine Bolk

Carolina Josephina von Franquemont (1817-1867) is a prominent name within the batik textile community. She is seen as the first Indo-European to run a batik workshop around 1850 in the small village of Ungaran near Semarang on Java, Indonesia. Different researchers wrote about her, mentioning that she was known under the local nickname ‘Prankemon’ and was famous for a colourfast, naturally dyed green colour. Von Franquemont did not sign her batiks, but over time numerous batiks from several collections have been attributed to Von Franquemont, as they are thought to have been made by her or made in her batik workshop. Many of these attributions were made within the holdings of the umbrella organisation the Wereldmuseum1 and other ascriptions are based on the batiks kept at these Dutch museums. Since 2017, I have been researching this batik legacy to find out who Von Franquemont was, and which batiks were actually made by her. This article 1

The Wereldmuseum is an umbrella organization comprising locations in Amsterdam, Leiden, Berg en Dal and Rotterdam. It was named the National Museum of World Cultures between 2014 and 2023.

39

explores more on the provenance and

illustrates Veldhuisen’s theory that Batik

mythmaking around Von Franquemont.

Belanda2 was a style of batik on Java

It lays out my findings of the past

specifically made by and for European

five years.

and Indo-European women to wear in

Batik Belanda The story about and especially the mythmaking around Von Franquemont started decades after her death in 1867.

Although the Dutch researcher and self-proclaimed Batik expert Gerret Pieter Rouffaer (1860-1928) was the first to write about Von Franquemont, most know her name through the work of the Dutch batik collector and researcher Harmen Veldhuisen (1943-2020). Because of Veldhuisen’s interpretations of Rouffaer’s writings on Von Franquemont and his own research on her, Von Franquemont batiks became much sought after by collectors and museums. In Veldhuisen’s book ‘Batik Belanda 1840-1940, Dutch influence in Batik from Java: History and Stories’ (1993, translated into Indonesian in 2007), he describes her as ‘the first known Indo-European who is

the former Dutch East Indies, current Indonesia.

Veldhuisen’s (1993) book contains biographical details about Von Franquemont including eight photos of batiks – mostly from his own collections – that he attributes to Von Franquemont, next to several instances of motifs or patterns he thinks were introduced by Von Franquemont. An example is the decorative border on the lower edge of a batik that was probably based on European lace called the booh and the depiction of wayang figures (shadow puppets) on batik.

Veldhuisen refers to a batik (WM-2064) with wayang figures, collected by Dr. Elie van Rijckevorsel (1845-1928). While Van Rijckevorsel never mentioned the maker of this batik, Veldhuisen attributes it to Von Franquemont.3 Other motif types – on batiks of a later date, usually from around the late 19th century and early 20th century – are the batiks

acknowledged as a batik manufacturess’ (Veldhuisen 1993: 38). Veldhuisen’s

2

book discusses for the biggest part

was not used for batik made by, for or with

batiks from his private collection

a Dutch or European influence or style, but

and that of his wife, the former

was the name used locally for imitations, i.e. factory produced textiles with batik motifs,

Wereldmuseum Rotterdam conservator Alit Djajasoebrata. He gives short biographies of batik entrepreneurs with much detailed information on their Dutch or European husbands. The book 40

At the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th century, the term Batik Belanda

made in cotton printing factories in Europe.

3

Van Rijckevorsel collected the donated textiles between January 1874 and July 1877 during his scientific journey through the former Dutch East Indies to make geomagnetic and meteorological observations (Bolk 2020: 21).

with fairy tales such as the piece

one of the batiks Veldhuisen designated

depicting Little Red Riding Hood (TM-

as being from Von Franquemont

5663-762). Another kind, the Poem

(HCV 3307). Museum Danar Hadi,

Batik, has a poem written diagonally

however, has now accredited this batik

in Malay entitled ‘Tabee nonna tabee’

to Catharina Carolina van Oosterom

accompanied by European looking

(1816-1877). She is seen as Von

figures. And last but not least, there

Franquemont’s peer and believed

was war shown in batik in the form

to have been her neighbour in the

of fighting soldiers for which he uses

Semarang region for a short while.

the example of ‘Batik perang Lombok’

Around 1870 she ran a batik workshop

based on the Lombok war of 1894.

with her sister Willemse in Banyumas4

About half of the batiks owned

by Veldhuisen were sold to the

(Veldhuisen 1993: 53, Bataviaasch handelsblad 1870).

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, however

It is curious Von Franquemont and

none of the batiks Veldhuisen attributed

Van Oosterom seem interchangeable

to Von Franquemont were included.

as batiks over time get ascribed to

Only two of the motif examples are in

either or both of them. Indeed, batiks

the collection, namely Little Red Riding

that match Veldhuisen’s description

Hood (TM-5663-762) from 1910 and

of Von Franquemont batiks are now

the Poem Batik (TM-5663-41), which he

often attributed to Van Oosterom. The

dates to 1860, but is probably made

piece at the Wereldmuseum with the

after 1880.

story of Chinese goddess Hsi Wang Mu

The largest part of the other

(7082-S-566-1) is currently seen as made

half of the batiks, including the

by Van Oosterom, but Veldhuisen’s

ones Veldhuisen attributed to Von

attributes a batik (HVC 3303) with

Franquemont, are at the private

a very similar design of the same

Museum Danar Hadi in Solo, Indonesia.

goddess to Van Franquemont. The same

When visiting this museum in

applies to other batiks (WM-27271 and

October 2019, I was told the original

WM-55812) that are associated with Van

labels provided by Veldhuisen had

Oosterom, but match with Veldhuisen’s

been detached and the pieces were

pieces (HC 3304 and HC 3309) that he

later added to what was believed to

designates as Von Franquemont textiles.

be the right match. It was noted this was difficult because of the language barrier, as most of the museum employees did not master English. I did not see these labels myself, just the batiks that were on display, including

4

Veldhuisen mentions both a niece named Willemse and a sister named Willemse. In an advertisement dating to 1870, widow Van Oosterom-Philips and widow Willemse Philips sell batiks from Banyumas, making it likely the sisters were first in business together (Bataviaasch handelsblad 1870).

41

The batik (HCV 3307) on display

‘Splendid symbols, Textiles and

in 2019 at Museum Danar Hadi has a

traditions from Indonesia’ (1979) the

repeating motif in the badan (the body of

Nutmeg batik (TM-1585-4, figure 1) as

the batik) consisting of a grid of squares

the main image to illustrate a story

with symbols within. There exists in

that has been told and retold up to this

the Van Rijckevorsel collection a similar

day, namely the spectacular death of

version (WM-2076) that Veldhuisen

Von Franquemont: ‘The secrets of this

also mentions as a comparison

[bluegreen] dye as well as those of an

(Veldhuisen 1993: 46). The badan is

earthen yellow dye perished with the

totally identical in colour and motif. But

woman herself in an earthquake in

before it was seen by Veldhuisen it was

June 1867’ (Gittinger 1979: 94). Over

not attributed to Von Franquemont.

time, this earthquake transformed in

The same applies to a number of pieces

literature into a volcanic eruption, in

(WM-2042, WM-2066 and WM-2064,

which not only she but also her batik

mentioned earlier) that were all collected

workshop were swept away.5 Mount

by Van Rijckevorsel and were never

Ungaran, the volcano in question and

attributed to any maker or workshop.

the location where Von Franquemont’s

The first time Veldhuisen asserts

workshop is claimed to have been, is

the batik just discussed (HCV 3307)

deeply eroded and has been inactive

as well as several other batiks,

for as long as historical records go

were made by Von Franquemont, is

(Bolk 2017).

in 1984, in his article for the magazine

Actually, Von Franquemont passed

‘Handwerken zonder grenzen’ (Crafts

away after a long sickbed, as is

without border) in which he provides

mentioned in a newspaper message

no sources (Veldhuisen 1984: 57). In

sent in by her brother announcing her

his publication ‘Bont en Blauw’ (1980) he writes that the only known batik ascribed to Von Franquemont is the Nutmeg batik (TM-1585-4), part of the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam collection since 1942 (Veldhuisen 1980: 16). It is probably the best known attribution to Von Franquemont.

5

In the online database the same information can be found in Dutch: ‘Haar kenmerk was de groene kleur die zij veelvuldig gebruikte (zo ook een gele kleur), maar die ook veelvuldig werd nagemaakt door andere batikkerijen. De geheimen van deze verfstof zijn samen met Franquemont zelf verdwenen tijdens een aardbeving in juni 1867’ or ‘Her characteristic was the green colour that she often used [including a yellow colour],

The Nutmeg Batik

but which was also often imitated by other batik companies. The secrets of this dye disappeared along with Franquemont

The American textile scholar Mattiebelle Gittinger (1932) uses in the book 42

itself during an earthquake in June 1867’ (collectie.wereldculturen.nl, TM-1585-4, accessed 14 April 2023).

Figure 1. Inventory card of the so called Nutmeg batik. Wereldmuseum Amsterdam TM-1585-4.

death ( Java-bode 1867).6 The incorrect

story starts when Rouffaer writes more

story about her death is most likely due

extensively about her in his book ‘De

to a misreading of Rouffaer’s writing.

Batik-Kunst van Nederlandsch-Indië

The retelling of the Von Franquemont-

en haar geschiedenis’ (1914), that he made together with Dutch Indologist,

6

I based my conclusions on the following Dutch tekst: ‘Heden overleed alhier, na

and then Museum Volkenkunde director Hendrik Herman Juynboll

eene langdurige ziekte, mejuffrouw C.J. von

(1867-1945). I found Von Franquemont’s

Franquemont, veelgeliefde zuster van T.C.

name and her nickname Prankemon

von Franquemont. Oenarang, 14 junij 1867’.

I translate it as: ‘Miss C.J. von Franquemont

in newspapers and other documents.

died here today, after a long illness, beloved

Rouffaer mentions her earlier in his

sister of T.C. von Franquemont. Oenarang,

writing too, but it is this book that

14 June 1867’ (Java-Bode 1867).

43

puts her and her alleged batik legacy

the museum changes from Koloniaal

permanently in batik history.

Instituut to Tropeninstituut. In an

Rouffaer notes that she passed away ‘on the day of the earthquake’,

interview from 1977, Bolland says: 7

‘This was an enormous turnaround.

referring to the significant earthquake

Since then, the focus came more

in Yogyakarta on 10 June 1867 (Rouffaer

on the person behind the object’

& Juynboll 1905-1914: 138). His claim

(Bierenbroodspot 1977: 6). In 1957 she

in 1917, that Von Franquemont took

becomes conservator of textile. Shortly

her green dye recipe with her to the

after in 1962 she takes over tasks from

grave, might have led to Gittinger’s

Pape-van Steenacker and becomes

theory of her death (Rouffaer 1917:

deputy conservator of the museum.

197). Gittinger (1979: 94) mentions

She mentions her main responsibility

as her source Rouffaer, but also

as describing the collection, using an

‘personal communication, Rita

inventory card system that had been

Bolland, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam,

introduced in 1940, and had been

November 1977’. Rita Bolland

maintained by Pape-Van Steenacker

(1919-2006) was the first textile curator

(Bierenbroodspot 1977: 6).

8

of the Tropenmuseum. In 1947 she

The Nutmeg batik (TM-1585-4) was

started as an assistant of museum

donated by ‘P.H.Q.Bouman, Den Haag’ in

director Jager Gerlings (1917-2010)

November 1942 together with 36 other

and head museum-assistant Johanna

batiks, sarong and tablecloths, and

Pape-van Steenacker (1901-1978).

many more objects. The database

Through self-study Bolland learns

system, The Museum System (TMS) of

about the collection and develops a

the Wereldmuseum adds that because

personal interest in batik and even

of the acquisition date and the death

more so in weaving. Concurrently,

of Mrs. Bouman, also in 1942, it might be possible that Mr. Bouman actually

7

Translated by author from following Dutch text: ‘den eigen dag der aardbeving’ (Rouffaer

8

Philippus Henri Quirinus Bouman

& Juynboll 1905-1914: 138).

(1880-1956) and Adolphine Leonardina

I have based my conclusions on the following

Wardenaar (1884-1942), both born in

Dutch text: ‘terwijl het geheim van ’t prachtige Franquemont-groen ten grave schijnt gedaald

Semarang, married in 1908 in Sumatra,

te zijn met den dood van deze Semarangsche

former Dutch East Indies, current

nonna (10 juni 1867)’. I translate it as ‘while

Indonesia. Adolphine Leonardina

the secret of the beautiful Franquemont green seems to have descended to the grave with the death of this nonna (grandmother, but perhaps Rouffaer meant nona or “nonya” which means lady in Malay) from Semarang (10 June 1867)’ (Rouffaer 1917: 197).

44

donated batiks belonging to his wife.

Wardenaar had Indo-European roots on both sides of her family. She could have been the wearer of the donated sarongs. None of this information

however is indicated on the cards

Scheltema de Heere (1892-1959), the

or in any publications on the piece

daughter of Isaäk Scheltema de Heere

(TM-1585-4).

and Elisabeth Koopman. Jacoba was

A handwritten card and a partly

born on Sumatra, her mother on Java.

typed and partly handwritten one,

It is unclear whether she or her mother

accompanying this batik were probably

were the wearers and whether the

both authored by Pape-van Steenacker

information about the batik came from

who – after Bolland takes over –

the donor or was added by Pape-Van

continues cataloguing the collection

Steenacker herself when making the

part-time until 1971. Her scientific work

inventory card.

is reported worthy of much praise as is

On the fully handwritten card of the

her dedication to continue working on

Nutmeg batik (TM-1585-4), Banyumas

the card system after handing over her

is put as the origin. This is copied in

organisational tasks. The handwritten

typescript on the second card, but

additional notes on the inventory cards

crossed out and replaced by a pen

signed with ‘St.1965’ are therefore most

handwritten ‘Semarang-Ungaran’. In

likely also from her hand.

Bolland’s handwriting there is also a

‘A very antique batiked sarong,

reference to the publication ‘Batiks

a so-called “saroeng Prankĕmon”’ is

from Java. The refined beauty of an

the catalogue information describing

ancient craft’ (Bolland, Jager Gerlings

a batik (TM-1585-4) held at the

& Langewis 1960). Bolland writes ‘On

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (figure 1).

account of the special blue-green hue of

There is a reference to a batik with

the leaves this batik sarong is classified

wayang figures (TM-846-1) and mythical

with the so-called kain prankemon’

animals like deers, nagas (a snake-

continuing ‘Till the present day all the

like mythical animal) and garudas (a

batik cloths showing this blue-green

mythical bird-like figure). On the card

tinge are called kain prankemon by the

of this batik is typed ‘Especially the

Javanese’ (Bolland, Jager Gerlings &

pretty, dark moss green makes this

Langewis 1960: 2, 6).

cloth recognisable as a Franquemont’.9

Among the batiks donated by

This batik was donated in 1933 by

Bouman is another batik (TM-1585-3)

‘Madame J. Scheltema-De Heere’ which

attributed to Von Franquemont. On

could refer to Jacoba Sara Louisa

the card there is the same introduction and reference as on the card of TM-

9

Translated by the author from the following Dutch tekst: ‘Vooral het fraaie, donkere mosgroen doet dezen doek als een Franquemontdoek kennen’ (Inventory card, TM-846-1).

1585-4, only this one is never used in any publications as an example of Von Franquemont’s work, probably because it looks very different in 45

design and colour, and has no green.

(RCE, National Service for Cultural

The provenance of both cloths (TM-

Heritage). Because the Wereldmuseum

1585-3 and TM-1585-4) are in fact the

collection falls under the Dutch National

same. The attribution must have been

collection, the responsibility of the

made by Pape-van Steenacker herself.

RCE, five batiks from that collection

However, neither have strong proof

were selected based on my provenance

to be identified as such, and therefore

research (Proaño Gaibor, Joosten &

cannot be positively attributed to Von

Bolk 2023). Obviously, the batiks had to

Franquemont.

have a type of green, either a dark or

Prankemon Green The different shades of green already mentioned were often used to attribute batiks to Von Franquemont. Based on Rouffaer’s texts, writings about her say she was able to produce a colourfast, naturally dyed green colour. Rouffaer writes that Von Franquemont created her famous, beautiful and strong green in 1845 and ‘that this recipe is surrounded with a veil of mystery, that probably never can be lifted’. In 1917 he adds she very likely took the recipe with her to her grave (Rouffaer 1917: 197). Rouffaer ascribes batiks to Von Franquemont, often based on the use of the green, he believed could not be made washable with natural ingredients, therefore speculating if a synthetic dye was maybe the source for Von Franquemont’s success (Rouffaer 1914: 382).

To find out more about this mysterious green I requested research into the chemical composition of the dyes done by the laboratory of the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed 46

blueish green. They also were attributed to Von Franquemont at one point in time and had entered the museum collection early. The Nutmeg batik (TM1585-4) was included upon request of the museum.

Two of the selected batiks (WM-2071 and WM-2083) were donated

by Van Rijckevorsel in 1884 after they were shown in the Maritiem Museum (Maritime Museum), now the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, in 1879 and during the colonial world exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883. Von Franquemont is not mentioned in either of the exhibition catalogues nor in Van Rijckevorsel’s published letters (Rijckevorsel 1878, Bolk 2020). The batiks and other textiles he brought back after his travels were categorised according to location, sometimes a neighbourhood and name of the motif.

One batik (WM-2071) has ‘Semarang’ and motif ‘Blaketoepat’, the other (WM-2083) just notes ‘Banjoemas’ (Rijckevorsel 1879: 15-16).

In April 1902, Rouffaer makes an overview exhibition featuring the collection of Elie van Rijckevorsel

(Bolk 2020, 2021). While the catalogue

In the collection of the

contains a lot of new information on

Wereldmuseum Leiden is an identical

the textiles, Rouffaer does not clarify

batik in design and motif, but different

whether Van Rijckevorsel collaborated

in colour to WM-2083 with the inventory

on the exhibition. In the preface of

number RV-300-364. The motif in the

the catalogue, Rouffaer writes that

badan is in red and blue on a white,

although he thinks the collection

undyed background, the kepala (head

was put together with much care,

of the batik) is red. WM-2083 also uses

‘cloths of true excellent quality are

only red and blue in the motif on the

lacking’. He further wonders whether

badan, but the background is fully

Van Rijckevorsel mistakenly named

dyed blue and the red is partly dyed

the place of purchase as the place of

over giving it an extra third purplish

manufacturing.10

colour, the kepala is likewise red with

Under the subheading

a different pattern in the papan (one

‘Multicoloured kains. A hotchpotch,

of the border patterns of the kepala).

in which the Franquemont-type is

RV-300-364 is accredited to Van

characterized by green’ he identifies

Oosterom (Brinkgreve 2013: 24), while

three batiks as Franquemont-type

Rouffaer attributes WM-2083 to Von

sarongs (Rouffaer 1902: 30).11 Their

Franquemont. Whether he was aware

inventory numbers are added

of Van Oosterom at that point in time

behind his description (WM-2071,

is unknown, but he writes about her

WM-2083 and WM-2087).

later in 1914 explaining she did not use green and neither did she apply a ‘soft red’ colour that was different

10

My conclusions are based on the following Dutch text: ‘Hoezeer de collectie batik’s te Rotterdam met ernst en methode te zamen is gebracht, ontbreken toch te zeer doeken van werkelijke prima-kwaliteit. Of ook de plaats van aankoop niet vaak in plaats staat

from the red in batiks from Semarang, referring to Von Franquemont12 (Rouffaer 1914: 310).

All the batiks that Van Rijckevorsel brought back seem to have been

voor de plaats van vervaardiging?’. I translate it as: ‘Although the collection of batiks in Rotterdam has been brought together with

11

12

My conclusions are based on the following

earnestness and method, cloths of truly

Dutch text: ‘Hier in Banjoemas, vooral onder

excellent quality are nevertheless lacking. Is

invloed der vroeger daar aanwezige batikkerij

the place of purchase not often replacing the

van eene Indo-Europeesche dame, Mevr. de

place of manufacture? (Rouffaer 1902: 25).

Wed. Van Oosterom, heerscht een zekere

Translated by the author from following

neiging om, onder gebruikmaking van zuiver-

Dutch text: ‘Veelkleurige kain’s. Een aardig

Javaansche patronen, op kleurengebied

allegaartje, waarbij het Franquemont-type

vreemde en nieuwe combinaties te zoeken

door het groen gekarakteriseerd wordt.’

van fraai blauw met zachtrood ; zónder het

(Rouffaer 1902: 30).

geel te gebruiken dat in Batavia en Grèsik

47

bought new – and never worn –

and sent in textile contributions for the

between 1874 and 1877. He does not

exhibitions.

mention Von Franquemont nor Van

Rouffaer was an active member

Oosterom in his catalogue or letters.

of Oost en West, founded in 1899 with

The attributions were later made by

the aim to strengthen the connection

Rouffaer based on the green colour.

between the Netherlands and its

So, next to TM-1585-4, WM-2071 and

colonies (Wikipedia-bijdragers 2023).

WM-2083, were included in the research

It mainly had members who had a

on the dyes done by RCE.

political or administrative function in

A batik (WM-24854) donated by

one of the colonies and were spending

Rouffaer in 1920, was also included

their retirement in the Netherlands with

in this dye research. An incomplete

their spouses. The women were very

photocopy of his original label reads

active in this association organising

‘Mevr. Van Der Burg geb. Stoll …

events, exhibitions and running a small

Semarang. Kain Franquemont.. 24.. (in

shop called Boeatan in Den Haag where

±1864 door Mevr. Fr. Te Oengaran)’. I

most members were based.

conclude therefore that the batik was

For his book De Batik-Kunst,

owned by Henriette Mathilde Stoll-van

Rouffaer got much information from

der Burg (1854-1914). Van der Burg

the members of Oost en West that

was also a member of De Koninklijke

he calls his ‘female expertise’ and

Vereeniging ‘Oost en West’ (Royal Society

‘expert Indo-European ladies’ in the

‘East and West’, short: Oost en West)

preface13 (Rouffaer 1899: XI-XIV). He only mentions the names of the women who lent him textiles for his research

wel bijna op iederen doek voorkomt, zónder het groen waarvoor Sèmarang vermaard is, zónder het sterke donkerrood ook waaraan datzelfde Semarang en dan vooral Pekalongan gaarne offeren’. I translate it as ‘Here in Banyumas, especially

that got published in the book. In May 1901 an exhibition was held by Oost en West in Rotterdam. Two batiks are acknowledged in the catalogue as ‘sarong Franquemont’. No owners are

under the influence of the batik factory of

mentioned, but it was likely Rouffaer

an Indo-European lady, Mrs. widow Van

was involved. In July another exhibition

Oosterom, reigns a certain tendency, using pure Javanese patterns, to look for strange

is held, this time curated by Rouffaer

and new colour combinations of beautiful

in Den Haag. In the catalogue he

blue with soft red; without using the yellow

briefly names Von Franquemont and

that appears on almost every canvas in Batavia and Grèsik, without the green for which Sèmarang is renowned, without the

48

13

Translated by the author from following

strong dark red to which the same Semarang,

Dutch text: ‘vrouwelijke deskundigheid’

and especially Pekalongan, gladly cede to’

and ‘deskundige Indische dames’

(Rouffaer 1914: 310).

(Rouffaer 1899: X1-XIV).

no less than 10 batiks brought in by

database of the Wereldmuseum, three

different members are attributed to,

of the batiks from this donation are

or are described as, in the style of Von

attributed to Van Oosterom and two to

Franquemont (Rouffaer 1901: 53). I

Von Franquemont. On the old inventory

have not been able to conclusively

cards of the Jacobson collection, by

trace back these batiks through archival

an unknown author, only two are

provenance research or by following

ascribed to Van Oosterom, WM-27266

their motif and colour description.

Van Der Burg was an active member and must have met and later gifted her batik (WM-24854) to Rouffaer. It seemed never to have been shown in any of the

den schenker bekend en zoo blikt dat deze

exhibitions, but it was clearly cherished

stukken, op een enkele uitzondering na, vóór

as a sarong to wear, seen from the

1868 zijn vervaardigd; enigszins uit den aard

many mended tears and frayed edges.

The last batik (WM-27272) that was included in the RCE research was donated in 1930 by Edward Richard Jacobson (1870-1944) of the trading firm Jacobson, Van den Berg & Co who sold amongst others imitation batiks in Southeast Asia. Jacobson’s father, also Edward Jacobson (1841-1881) founded the company. The donated batiks could have been worn by the family living and working in the former Dutch East Indies or have been collected for the business.

The museum registration mentions that the donator tells they come from his family and are almost all made before 1868.14 It is noted that several are to the taste of the ‘Indo-European society’ and are from the batik workshops owned by Van Oosterom and Von Franquemont. In the current online

der zaak zijn het werkstukken van hooge kwaliteit en het behoeft dus geen betoog, dat zelfs voor de reeds zoo uitgebreide en oude batik-verzameling van deze instelling zulk een schenking daarvoor toch van buitengewoon belang is. In een gedeelte dezer batiks is de klassieke Javaansche stijl en kleur verlaten, die zich dan meer richtten naar den smaak der Indo-Europeesche maatschappij. Enkele van deze laatsten zijn bepaald afkomstig van de uit dien tijd bekende batikkerijen onder leiding van mevrouw Van Oosterom in Banjoemas en van mevrouw Von Franquemont in het Semarangsche. Hier [e] en nadere beschrijving te geven van deze batiks is uitgesloten. Van de beide Palembang ikats is er één vooral zéér fraai en technisch nauwkeurig bewerkt, beide waren al van vóór 1868 in aan te wijzen bezit’. I translate it as: ‘The origin of these batiks, for the most part from family possessions, was known to the donor and it appears that, with a few exceptions, these pieces were made before 1868; the nature of the works show that they are of high quality and it goes without saying that even for the already so extensive and old batik collection of this institution, such a donation is of extraordinary importance. In some of these batiks, the classical Javanese

14

I have based my conclusion on the following

style and color have been abandoned, which

Dutch tekst: ‘De herkomst van deze batiks,

then orient themselves more towards the

voor het meerendeel uit familiebezit, was

taste of Indo-European society. Some of

49

and WM-27271,15 one is ‘probably

the wax and if any mordants were used.

from the batik workshop of Madame

The full research is available in the report

Franquemont’ (WM-27272).16 The word

‘Carolina Josephina von Franquemont

‘probably’ used by an unknown source

(1817-1867) Prankemon green, Research

is not the best provenance, but the

into the chemical composition of organic

batik was included in the dye research

dyes in 19th century sarongs’. Different

because of the date and for another

dyeing techniques and ingredients could

reason, a batiked bedcover made by

be distinguished. The most striking being

Von Franquemont owned by Jacobson,

how the green was created by combining

I will elaborate on in the last section of

blue from Indigo tinctoria and yellow

this paper.

from Tegèran (yellow dye wood, Maclura

Samples of the five batiks were put

cochinchinensis) in all five batiks. For

through different laboratory tests by RCE to

TM-1585-4, WM-2071 and WM-24854 first

examine all the dyes – not just the green –

the yellow is dyed and second the blue.

For WM-2083 and WM-27272 it is not

the latter certainly originate from the wellknown batik factories of that time, led by Mrs. Van Oosterom in Banyumas and by Mrs. Von Franquemont in the region of Semarang. To give a further description of these batiks here

is not special for batik. This is the oldest way known, already described by British colonial official Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in his book ‘The History of Java’

(Inventory book Wereldmuseum, WM-27272).

(1817). More interesting results from the

WM-27266 is on TMS attributed to Van

research are that the indigo dye vat and

Oosterom. In the inventory book it has the same number and is matched with the old inventory card no 1. No 1 has number 27365, but there is no batik with that number, or 27265. The description matched with the batik ‘djelamprang met limaran-kepala. Uit de batikkerij Mevr. Van Oosterom, 1865. Leg.

red seemed to be created differently in each batik. Based on these results, there are strong indications that the investigated batiks were all made in different dyeing workshops. They therefore cannot be

E. Jacobson’ or ‘djelamprang with limaran-

attributed to one workshop, so also not to

kepala. From the batik factory of Mrs. Van

Von Franquemont (Proaño Gaibor, Joosten

Oosterom, 1865. Bequest E. Jacobson’.

I have based my conclusions on what is written on the card in black ink: ‘No 8. 27372 [now WM-27272] sarong Prada, merag ngigel; waarschijnlijk uit de batikkerij van Mevr. Franquemont te ?; voor 1868. Leg. E.

& Bolk 2023).

Aunt Von Franquemont

Jacobson’ or ‘No 8. 27372 [now WM-27272]

Rouffaer might have put Von

sarong Prada, merag ngigel; probably from

Franquemont on the map, but

the batik factory of Mrs. Franquemont in ?; before 1868. Bequest E. Jacobson’.

50

Creating green with Indigo and Tegèran

ikats, one is particularly beautifully and already in known possession from before 1868’

16

colour baths or that it was mixed together.

is out of the question. Of the two Palembang technically accurately processed, both were

15

clear if the colour is created with two

how did Rouffaer learn about her?

Figure 2. Batik Tulis (handwritten batik made with a wax pen) bedcover donated by niece Reijers, 188 × 187 cm.

Wereldmuseum Rotterdam WM-26937.

Figure 3. Batik Tulis bedcover donated by niece Umbgrove, 333 × 259 cm. Wereldmuseum Rotterdam WM-26938.

51

This happened most likely when

138; Rouffaer 1913).17 The nieces were

he was making a batik-overview in

the daughters of Von Franquemont’s

the Koloniaal Museum in Haarlem

sister Jacoba Helena Von Franquemont

in 1900. He gathered batiks and

(1822-1893) and her brother-in-law

other Indonesian textiles that he had

Johannes Josephus Gijsbertus Ottenhoff

borrowed from acquaintances and

(1816-1864). They owned a sugar

displayed them on the wall of the

factory in Kaliwungu, next to Mount

Koloniaal Museum on 7 April 1900.

Ungaran. The nieces only provided

He also gives a talk on that same day

basic information on their aunt stating

to launch the research for his book

her name – miss Carolina Josephina

on batik that would eventually come

von Franquemont – place and date

out in 1914. The talk gets published in

of birth – Surabaya, 25 March 1819 –

November of that year in the bulletin

place and date of death – Ungaran,

of the Koloniaal Museum, together

10 June 1867 and her first workshop

with a small black and white photo

that she started in 1840 in Surabaya

showing the walls covered with textiles

(Rouffaer 1914: 138). Rouffaer also

(Rouffaer 1900: 16). He discusses the

gives detailed information about the

European influence on batik, the import

kĕmada-motif, the little striped edges

of imitation batik and batiks made

on the selvedge of the batik called seret,

in workshops run by Indo-European

which Von Franquemont would often

women. The latter two elements

use, but certainly did not invent. He

are perceived as wronging Javanese

discusses her hybrid style and European

traditional batik. He does not mention

taste and stresses her bad taste with

any batik bosses by name. As in all his

an exclamation mark. He closes his

later writings, he almost always talks

argument with the colour use of the

about Von Franquemont in a negative

sarung Prankemon, which includes a

way, one can assume he did not know about her in the early 1900s.

In his book from 1914 a footnote points us to the source of the Von Franquemont story that he recorded ‘Partly through oral communications with the two nieces Mrs. De Wed. I.J. Reyers née Ottenhoff and Mrs. Umbgrove née Ottenhoff about their aunt’ (Rouffaer & Juynboll 1905-1914:

17

Translated by the author from following Dutch text: ‘1) Deels naar persoonlijke mededeelingen van twee nichten, Mevr.

De Wed. I.J. Reyers geb. Ottenhoff en Mevr.

Umbgrove Geb. Ottenhoff over deze hunne tante’ (Rouffaer & Juynboll 1905-1914: 138; Rouffaer 1913).

52

lovely and strong green (Rouffaer & Juynboll 1905-1914: 138).18 The same nieces who provided part

The big batiked bedcovers in red and blue, with dyed-over parts to create an almost black colour, are set-up like

of the information, Louise Josephine

a chintz bedcover with borders around

Reijers (1843-1924) and Jacoba Helena

a central square. The one-person

Umbgrove (1846-1922), also gifted

batik bed cover or sprei, in Dutch and

Rouffaer two batiks on 11 May 1900,

Indonesian, donated by niece Reijers

one month after his talk in Haarlem.

is similar to an Indian chintz in motif

The two batiks, bedcovers actually,

and colour.

make their way into the Wereldmuseum

The two-person cover donated

Rotterdam collection in 1928 after

by niece Umbgrove has more classic

Rouffaer’s passing (WM-26937,

repeating batik motifs in red, drawn

figure 2 and WM-26938, figure 3).

with a steady hand. The rose and grape

The type-scripted information in the

motif in blue has many mistakes and

inventory book taken from the original

is more like the work of a beginning

labels both read: ‘batiked (before 1867)

batik maker.

by Miss Von Franquemont in Oengaran’.

Neither batiks donated by the nieces have the earlier mentioned kĕmadamotif, nor any green. It is unclear if they

18

I have based my conclusions on the following

have ever had green. But if they had,

Dutch text: ‘en zelfs een eigenaardig

there is no reason why Rouffaer would

kleurtype van saroeng’s met een mooi en sterk groen in omloop bracht, dat de inlanders met den naam sarung Prankemon maar al te wel onderscheidden, zóózeer was het iets aparts – zeker heeft zij sinds ongeveer 1845 toen ze zich met haar batikkerij van Soerabaja naar Semarang verplaatste, die eigenaardige periode met klem ingeleid, waarin, zooals tegenwoordig steeds meer en meerder, Europa’s smaak, èn wansmaak!, zich op Java laten gelden ten

describe Von Franquemont’s green as colourfast and washable.

The nieces not only donated these two bedcovers by their aunt.

In 1884 Reijers donated a batik to the Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Bevordering van Nijverheid (Dutch Society for Improvement of Industry).

dezen’. I translate it as: ‘and even brought

In the society’s magazine is stated; ‘Kain

into circulation sarongs with a peculiar type

pandjang pagel soreh (correct writing

of colour consisting of a beautiful and strong green, which the natives distinguished all too

pagi-sore, day-night design) from the

well by the name of sarung Prankemon, so

factory of the late Miss Franchimont

much so it was something special – certainly

in Oenarang (res. Semarang)’ (De

since about 1845 when she moved her batik factory from Surabaya to Semarang, she emphatically initiated that peculiar period in which, as more and more nowadays, Europe’s taste, and bad taste! applied to Java in this regard’ (Rouffaer & Juynboll 1905-1914: 138).

Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter bevordering van Nijverheid 1885: 197).

This batik made its way from the Museum van Kunstnijverheid in 53

Figure 4. Batik Tulis kain panjang, long cloth, consists of two parts sewn together. Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, TM-932-78.

Haarlem, as a loan in 1934, to the

family moved between Java and the

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam collection

Netherlands to settle there permanently

(TM-932-78, figure 4). The batik

by 1890. In 1910 Von Franquemont’s

consists of two pieces very roughly

niece Reijers and another niece, Reijers’

sewn together. The motif in the badan

sister Marie Catharine van Schreven

repeats in squares filled with a banji-

(1847-1917) were also on the member

like (a batik motif based on the Indian

list of the Oost en West society, but they

swastika motif) pattern in a sogan

never participated in the exhibitions.

(brown) and blue with a border in red

aunt Von Franquemont made and

of a tumpal (triangle shapes, part of

what batiks were from her hand. Yet

kepala) in red and black that is different

the batiks attributed by Rouffaer,

in style. The batik is definitely not what

Veldhuisen and Pape-van Steenacker

we consider today a pagi-sore design,

are very different in style, motif and

and certainly not what is presently seen

colour. If therefore, the characteristics

as a Von Franquemont.

of what Von Franquemont’s nieces

The nieces Reijers and Umbgrove

knew to be their aunts work were used

were in their twenties when their aunt

as a guide, the attributions made by

Von Franquemont passed away after a

Rouffaer, Veldhuisen and Pape-van

long sickbed in Ungaran in 1867. The

Steenacker would most probably not

nieces grew up and married nearby

have been made.

Ungaran, in Kaliwungu in the region of Semarang on Java. The Ottenhoff 54

They must have known what their

along one side. On only one side is half

Figure 5. Label on Batik Tulis, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, TM-932-78.

Dropping the Aglaja magazines Up until now, only one batik has been found in a catalogue said to have been made by Von Franquemont and published during her lifetime. It is mentioned in passing by Singaporean Southeast Asia textile researcher Peter Lee (2015: 192). However, it was in Lee’s writing I came across the first doubts on the attributions to Von Franquemont when he states: ‘As the batik cloth by the two women [Von Franquemont and Van Oosterom] are not signed or stamped, attribution is based at best on anecdotal evidence. For example, some batiks entered Dutch museums in the 19th century or are documented through secondary or tertiary sources Figure 6. Portrait of Louise Josephine Reijers (1843-1924). Fotocollectie RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, Den Haag.

as having been produced by their ateliers. Many attributions are purely speculative as they are based on stylistic comparison’ (Lee 2015: 191).

55

The batik he mentions as made

magazines for Java’. In 1901 Rouffaer

by Von Franquemont was part of an

notes that Von Franquemont had much

exhibition in 1865 in Batavia, current

on her conscience giving burgerrechten

Jakarta, showcasing materials and

(civil rights) to Aglaja, the magazine

crafts from the Dutch East Indies. It

‘Havelaar justifiably dropped’. With

was sent in by ‘Sir E. Jacobson’, the

burgerrechten he probably means that

earlier mentioned Edward Jacobson

she made it mainstream and creates

(Katalogus 1865: 147). The bedcover

with the reference to Havelaar a

is among a list of many other names

clever, yet until now overlooked insult.

of batik makers. As common in these

Rouffaer was a huge fan of the Dutch

types of exhibitions, there was a jury

writer Eduard Douwes Dekker and his

nominated for the different objects

works published under his pseudonym

categories. The bedcover does not win

Multatuli. Dekker became famous

in any of the categories. The bedcover

with his satirical novel Max Havelaar

was not among the donated pieces

of De Koffij-Veilingen Der Nederlandsche

of Jacobson, but it is remarkable

Handelsmaatschappij (Max Havelaar,

that the nieces donated specifically

The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch

two bedcovers said to be made by

Trading Company, 1860), in which he

their aunt.

denounced the abuses of colonialism in

This brings us back to Rouffaer’s

56

the Dutch East Indies. He is considered

writing and the interpretation of

one of the Netherlands’ greatest

his writing. On several occasions

authors. In his book ‘Max Havelaar’ the

Rouffaer links Von Franquemont to

main character called Sjaalman (scarf

the magazine Aglaja, a magazine for

man) drops a stack of Aglaja magazines

women including fashion illustrations

in a bookshop in front of the character

and handicraft patterns that was sold

Droogstoppel (dry stubble). This is

from 1835 until 1864, both in the

for Droogstoppel the reason not to

Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.

hire Sjaalman for a job. The scene in

In 1904 he reports that she valued

the book illustrates how unqualified

these types of magazines to find new

he was. Rouffaer does not mean Von

patterns to use in Javanese batik. He

Franquemont’s style was based on

uses the term ‘op cijns stellen van’,

Aglaja, but he wants to address how

which means to value (Rouffaer 1904:

bad her style is. In 1905 Rouffaer uses

24). But Veldhuisen interpreted this

the reference again to explain that

as if Von Franquemont had some kind

after Von Franquemont, all Chinese run

of agreement with Aglaja; ‘She [Von

batikworkshops ‘smuggled in’ motifs

Franquemont] held the sole right to

from European fashion magazines like

adapt patterns from Dutch fashion

Aglaja, and basically ruined batik with it.

As far as the story on Von Franquemont goes based on provenance, only the two batiked bedcovers and kain panjang (long cloth) donated by Von Franquemont’s family can truly be attributed to Carolina Josephina von Franquemont.

To explain the rest of the story on Von Franquemont, for now, I like to end this article with a quote from Rouffaer’s favourite author; ‘Two left gloves do not make a pair, two half-truths do not make the truth’ (Multatuli 1862).

19

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