Batak Padung-Padung

Solid-Cast Ear Ornaments (Padung-Padung)

are probably the best-known type of Karo Batak jewellery. They are spectacular and heavy. The examples here are of higher-grade silver and are completely solid. Accordingly, together they weigh more than one-and-a-half kilograms and comprise single pieces of extremely thick silver wire bent into two wings of tight spirals.

Traditionally they were worn by Karo Batak women: one through the ear but supported by a headdress on account of the weight, and the other worn behind the head, attached to the headdress.

The pair here have removable segments to allow them to be attached to the ear or headdress. Accordingly, the stems are soldered together to keep the two halves together. Some examples do not have the removable segment and are an unbroken line of silver wire. These examples reportedly were attached to the ear of the wearer during the manufacturing process and thereafter could never be removed.

At more than 1.5 kilograms, the examples here are at the heaviest end of the scale of the typical weights for

padung-padung (Sibeth, 1991, p. 190).

According to Brinkgreve & Stuart-Fox (2013, p. 55),

padung-padung were given by the father of the bride on the day of her wedding to indicate her new marital status. Spirals in jewellery are a common motif the world over, but what makes padung-padung truly unique is their extraordinary size.

Early photographs show teams of Batak silversmiths drawing long, thick, rope-like lengths of silver wire around tree-trunk columns in their efforts to make

padung-padung. The usual source for the silver apparently was melted-down Spanish dollars.

Related examples are illustrated in Sibeth (1991, p. 187), Sibeth (2012, p. 44-47), Rodgers (1995, p. 105), Brinkgreve & Stuart-Fox (2013, p. 55), Maxwell, (2010, p. 38), and Carpenter (2011, p. 80).

The examples here are in excellent condition.

Brinkgreve, F., & D.J. Stuart-Fox (eds), Living with Indonesian Art: The Frits Liefkes Collection, Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, 2013.

Carpenter, B.,

Ethnic Jewellery from Indonesia: Continuity and Evolution, Editions Didier Millet, 2011.

Maxwell, R.,

Life, Death & Magic: 2000 Years of Southeast Asian Ancestral Art, National Gallery of Australia, 2010.

Rodgers, S.,

Power and Gold: Jewelry from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, The Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva, 3rd ed. 1995.

Sibeth, A.,

The Batak: Peoples of Island Sumatra, Thames & Hudson, 1991.

Sibeth, A.,

Gold, Silver & Brass: Jewellery of the Batak in Sumatra, Indonesia, 2012.

private collection.