MICHIGAN ORIENTAL ART SOCIETY - Our 41st Year
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 2012, 1:00 pm
SITE: St. Johns Hospital – Oakland: Education Center
27351 Dequindre Rd (West side); Madison Heights
(North of 11 Mile Rd • South of 12 Mile
Conveniently located North of I-696 and East of I-75)
Meeting Information: Patricia Beer @ (586) 558-9767
Introduction to Indonesia
by Paul Haig
Paul, together with his wife, Diane, has traveled the world to find the most beautiful antique Asian lacquers, textiles, bronzes, prints and ceramics. His frequent visits to Indonesia and Thailand have not only yielded fabulous art finds, he also has a legion of very close friends in the area. Paul, a jeweler by trade, President of Haig’s of Rochester Fine Jewelry, and a member of MOAS, began as a stone collector and cutter. Paul is also an avid collector of Asian antiques. Inspired by his family's enthusiasm for Asian art and culture, he has a brother who is a scholar of Asian languages.
Paul, together with his wife, Diane, has traveled the world to find the most beautiful antique Asian lacquers, textiles, bronzes, prints and ceramics. His frequent visits to Indonesia and Thailand have yielded fabulous art finds. I suspect he is one of the few people in this area with such an extensive background in this area. A visit to of Haig’s of Rochester will keep you riveted to the vast holdings he has accumulated for our viewing and purchasing pleasure.
In 2006, Paul, in collaboration with Marla Shelton, released a the book; Threads of Gold: Chinese Textiles: Ming to Ch'ing, a guide to collectible Chinese textiles. After publication Paul and Marla brought a plethora of Chinese textiles to MOAS for a graphic lecture with actual items to illustrate their presentation. The book includes examples and an understandable evaluation system. Threads of Gold is beautifully illustrated with over 500 detailed photos of ceremonial court robes, badges and decorative textiles dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The early, modern history of Indonesia begins in the period from 2500 BCE to 1500 BCE with a wave of light brown-skinned Austronesian immigrants, thought to have originated in Taiwan. This Neolithic group of people, skilled in open-ocean maritime travel and agriculture are believed to have quickly supplanted the existing, less-developed population.
From this point onward, dozens of kingdoms and civilizations flourished and faded in different parts of the archipelago. Some notable kingdoms include Srivijaya (7th-14th century) on Sumatra and Majapahit (1293-c.1500), based in eastern Java but the first to unite the main islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Borneo (now Kalimantan) as well as parts of the Malay Peninsula.
The early, modern history of Indonesia begins in the period from 2500 BCE to 1500 BCE with a wave of light brown-skinned Austronesian immigrants, thought to have originated in Taiwan. This Neolithic group of people, skilled in open-ocean maritime travel and agriculture are believed to have quickly supplanted the existing, less-developed population.
From this point onward, dozens of kingdoms and civilizations flourished and faded in different parts of the archipelago. Some notable kingdoms include Srivijaya (7th-14th century) on Sumatra and Majapahit (1293-c.1500), based in eastern Java but the first to unite the main islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Borneo (now Kalimantan) as well as parts of the Malay Peninsula.
The first Europeans to arrive (after Marco Polo who passed through in the late 1200s) were the Portuguese, who were given permission to erect a godown near present-day Jakarta in 1522. By the end of the century, however, the Dutch had pretty much taken over and the razing of a competing English fort in 1619 secured their hold on Java, leading to 350 years of colonization. In 1824, the Dutch and the British signed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty which divided the Malay world into Dutch and British spheres of influence, with the Dutch ceding Malacca to the British, and the British ceding all their colonies on Sumatra to the Dutch. The line of division roughly corresponds to what is now the border between Malaysia and Indonesia, with a small segment becoming the border between Singapore and Indonesia.
China: Excavators discovered the world’s oldest soup near the excavated terracotta army of Xian. Now cloudy and green from the bronze cooking vessel in which it was sealed, the bone soup surprisingly still in liquid form, was found in a tomb dating to the Warring States period (475-221B.C.)) alongside a vessel that may have held wine. Researchers are now trying to discover the recipe. Guess if they are able to do so, none of our family recipes are safe.
Guests always welcome: along with members we encourage to bring artifacts pertaining to the program to share with the group. Join us at Mongolian Buffet, 12 Mile & Ryan, for dinner after the meeting. To visit our web site, type: Michigan Oriental Art Society in your search engine
