Srivijaya Offering Tray, Central Java, Javanese Talam

Large Cast Bronze Offering Tray (Talam)

Ritual objects or offerings were placed on trays such as this as part of the daily routine of temple worship. Probably used either in Hindu or Buddhist ritual in pre-Islamic Java, the tray dates from the period when the Javanese Srivijaya-linked kraton or royal court moved from central Java to Eastern Java, possibly due to some calamitous event such as a volcanic eruption.

This tray of heavy bronze with a flanged rim is decorated with a central lozenge with a stylised petal motif interior. A band of pointed decorations surrounds this to represent rays of light or energy emanating from the central auspicious emblem. Two more bands of swirling foliate motifs fill the remainder of the tray.

Talams such as this example were cast. Its designs are not engraved or incised but were transferred from the original wax model.

A

talam of similar dimension is on display in the British Museum (inventory no. OA 1959.12-16.2)

This example is in very fine condition given its age nd compared with most extant examples. There are some minor holes in one area of the rime, probably caused by the acidic nature of the volcanic soil in which the piece was most probably buried. These are not apparent however when the item is displayed. Otherwise, the tray is in a fine, intact and stable condition.

Two similar talams from the Samuel Eilenberg collection are illustrated in Lerner, M., and Kossak, S., The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, pp. 220-1.