Exhibition showcases an important selection of works from the collection of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, March 28, 2024


Exhibition showcases an important selection of works from the collection of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
Decanter case with six bottles, 1700s. Box: Batavia (Jakarta), Java, Indonesia; Bottles: Gujarat, India. Wood, silver, velvet, glass, gold, 2013-00749 Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore.



LONDON.- Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781 – 1826) spent most of his career as an East India Company official in Southeast Asia. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Java in 1811 and assumed the Lieutenant Governorship of Sumatra in 1818. Raffles is credited as being the founder of modern Singapore – but remains a controversial figure, particularly for his policies. When he was Lieutenant-Governor of Java, for example, he ordered troops to attack the most powerful court, which still has consequences to this day. Over time, he has been viewed as a scholarly expert on the region, a progressive reformer, a committed imperialist and an incompetent colonial official.

He was also an avid collector of objects from the region, particularly amassing material from Java. He acquired objects to show his European audience that Javanese society was worth colonising. The exhibition showcases an important selection of Hindu-Buddhist antiquities, different types of theatrical puppets, masks, musical instruments and stone and metal sculpture. Today, these objects provide us with a vital record of the art and court cultures of Java from approximately the 7th century to the early 19th century.

Raffles’ collection was one of the first large gatherings of material from the region, providing us with a window into the wider worlds of Southeast Asia and Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. The collection was given to the British Museum in two large donations, one in 1859 from Rev. William Charles Flint, Raffles’ nephew, and the other in 1939 from Mrs J.H. Drake, Raffles’ great-grandniece. The collection today comprises around 2,000 objects, mainly from Java, but also includes items from China, Sumatra (now part of Indonesia), India, Burma (Myanmar) and Siam (Thailand). The display will include more than 130 objects, ranging from expressive theatrical puppets in the Cirebon style from the north coast of Java and striking wooden character masks from central Java, which were new when Raffles acquired them, to ornate bronze buddhas and bodhisattvas, protective amulets (which Raffles mistook for coins), and drawings of sites, buildings and stone sculptures.

The exhibition is a collaboration with the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. A version of the exhibition was on display earlier in 2019 in Singapore to mark the bicentenary of the founding of the modern city-state. The British Museum display includes seven loan objects from the Asian Civilisations Museum which are being seen in the UK for the first time, including an important trade textile from India.

Java was returned to the Dutch in 1815, and the exhibition concludes by looking at the period when Raffles was Lieutenant Governor of Bencoolen (Bengkulu) in southwestern Sumatra (1818-1824). Raffles’ family suffered ill health while on Sumatra, and he booked passage on a ship called the Fame to return to Britain in 1824. Fifty miles out to sea, it caught fire and sank. There was no loss of life, but everything else went down with the ship. All of Raffles’ administrative and collecting work was lost, including numerous irreplaceable Malay manuscripts, some dating from the 1400s. There were also more than 2,000 natural history drawings, live animals, including a tiger, and large amounts of information about the islands of Singapore, Borneo, and Sulawesi (then called Celebes). The loss of his papers also means that we do not know where or how he acquired his collections, including the ones from Java. In the two months that Raffles waited for another ship, he commissioned new natural history drawings and gathered together a few objects. Today the collections formed between 1818-24 include a textile, sword, staff, two hats, and a few wood sculptures from Nias. Yet what remains of all his various collections continues to stimulate reflection on the region and its multiple and complex histories.

Alexandra Green, Curator of the exhibition said ‘Raffles has been the subject of many studies, but there has never been an assessment of the shape of his collections – why he collected what he did – so this exhibition has been an exciting exploration of new ideas. Additionally, because all his papers were lost, we do not know how his collections originated. The exhibition has been an opportunity to conduct further research with scholars in Indonesia and to make the new information available to the public here and in Asia. It has also been wonderful to collaborate with the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore and the Singapore High Commission in London to make the exhibition and catalogue a reality’.










Today's News

December 29, 2019

The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum exhibits small format works by Joaquín Sorolla

Jerry Herman, composer of 'Hello, Dolly!' and other hits, dies at 88

Sue Lyon, star of 'Lolita,' is dead at 73

For a collector, it's 'love at first sight'

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents the first U.S. exhibition of Félix Vallotton's work in nearly 30 years

Christie's to offer the Jane and Kito de Boer collection

Rembrandt etchings acquired for the nation

Master Drawings New York announce 2020 highlights from the world's leading fine art dealers

Exhibition showcases an important selection of works from the collection of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

Christie's launching new publishing initiative in 2020

A dazzling decade for jewellery at Sotheby's: 10 years of record-breaking sales total $4.7 billion

The MAK Vienna opens an exhibition devoted to the late period of the ukiyo-e

Galerie Karsten Greve St. Moritz opens an exhibition of sculpture by Joel Shapiro

"Zen motorcycle" takes final journey into the Smithsonian's collections

New exhibition highlights the unsung achievements of female paleontologists

'Soft Power': When political art walks a very fine line

UNTITLED, ART San Francisco announces fair programming and special projects

Ketterer Kunst anniversary year with world records and results in the millions

Dix Noonan Webb to hold their first auction devoted to Indian coins and historical medals

French government offers concessions to striking dancers of Paris Opera

The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair to take place for the 8th time this January

Foam exhibits work by the winner of the 13th Foam Paul Huf Award

VisionQuesT 4rosso opens an exhibition of photographs by Guia Besana

Circulation(s): Festival dedicated to emerging photography in Europe announces 10th edition

New Wedding Ideas to Try for Soon-To-Wed Couples




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful