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204 - [MANUSCRIPT – INDONESIA – JAVA. 19th century] – An illustrat…
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
[MANUSCRIPT – INDONESIA – JAVA. 19th century] – An illustrated manuscript in the Javanese language, featuring colour-painted illustrations and red-inked punctuation. Circa 1850–1860. An exceptional Indonesian manuscript, illustrated with numerous polychrome figures characteristic of the Javanese puppet theatre known as ‘wayang’. Copied in the regency of Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, circa 1850–1860. Folio (210x340 mm), full oxblood leather with flaps, plain and unmarked spine, oriental frame decoration with a central motif cold-stamped on the covers. 2 blank folios, followed by 79 (of 86) leaves (numbered 1–43, then 45–53, then 56–62, then 67–86), 9 blank leaves, numerous polychrome illustrations in the text, some highlighted in gold, painted border decoration on the first 2 leaves, rubricated punctuation in colour. Binding rubbed with leather missing, caps worn down, cover flap missing with part of the hinge split, repairs with adhesive tape in the inner margins and a few small repairs with the same adhesive in the outer margins and on a few leaves, some damage in the margins, paper slightly browned, tears with small losses at the bottom of the first 5 leaves, 8 leaves missing. Several stamps and a few handwritten inscriptions on the first two and last leaves. An important manuscript written in the Javanese language, in beautiful black ink on Dutch paper. Based on an ancient Javanese poetic text inspired by the Mahabharata, it is illustrated with numerous figures characteristic of the Javanese theatre known as ‘wayang’, one of Indonesia’s oldest theatrical traditions, whose strange and phantasmagorical puppets, interpreted as reflections of the human soul, serve to aestheticise violence in order to channel it. In addition to the figures, delicately painted in colour, with some highlighted in gold, there are numerous colour-painted headings, as well as coloured ornaments framing the first two leaves. It is characteristic of works produced from the 1850s onwards for use in lending libraries run by Javanised Chinese settled in towns and major towns. A rare manuscript with striking illustrations.
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About the sale Fine antique and collectible books, manuscripts and modern illustrated works
Auction location
Auction time 06/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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