Pantun plates are indicative of the importance of these quatrains in Malay society in days past, writes Zaharah Othman
THE name Staffordshire, to collectors of ceramics and Chinaware, is perhaps synonymous with Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Royal Albert table ware and decorative plates, as well as figurines that adorn the tables and walls of many a Malaysian home.
Few, however, would’ve known that some of the earliest plates made in Staffordshire, a county in the West Midlands of England, for the markets in the east, had specially inscribed Malay pantun written in Jawi.
Perhaps it was as early as 1826 that some delightful Malay quatrains made their way to the manufacturers entrusted to do the job of transferring them on to the plates before being shipped off to markets in the Malay world. Most of the pantun plates comprise plain dinner plates, while others have motifs on the rim and around the verse. On the back of the plates, a medallion with the manufacturer’s name can often be found.
Over the years, several of these plates have surfaced in museums and private collections, garnering much interest, especially among scholars of Malay studies.
One detailed study of pantun plates was conducted by French scholar Henri Chambert-Loir who, between 1980 and 1992, visited Indonesia and saw 65 specimens of plates at mausoleums and museums. Most of these plates had writing with religious undertones while some had Malay pantun. In his article published in the Indonesia & Malay World Journal, Chambert-Loir wrote that the plates were dated from the middle of the last century (1800’s), and that they were probably very common and widely circulated at the time. He found these plates in places such as West and South Sumatra, the whole of Java, Madura, Bali, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and Sarawak.
UNIQUE PLATES
Closer to home, some of these plates, which are fast becoming a collector’s item, can be found in the Malay Heritage Museum of Universiti Putera Malaysia.
There are eight pantun plates altogether; all from the personal collection of the museum’s director, Dr Muhammad Pauzi Abdul Latif. Six of the eight plates were made by W. Adams & Sons while two others were made by J. Hawley — both manufacturers in Staffordshire which began producing potteries in the early 1800s.
Pauzi is an avid collector of things Malay, from kris to manuscripts, weapons, plates and even traditional Malay houses. The 50-year-old studied mass communications but his interest in Malay artefacts meant that he had acquired a collection large enough to be displayed at the museum.
He acquired his first pantun plate in 1999 from Patani for “a few hundred ringgit”. Pauzi confides that he’s drawn to the uniqueness of the pantun plates and finds satisfaction in being able to track down and acquire each piece for his private collection.
“These plates are now quite rare and difficult to find,” says Pauzi, who, since our meeting in May, has acquired yet another pantun plate from a dealer in Patani. He paid RM650 for the plate which was made in the Netherlands by Petrous Ragout. Two more are still being negotiated.
In his quest to find more pantun plates, Pauzi travels far and wide in Thailand and Indonesia. He also sends out feelers to dealers who’d look out for them on his behalf. To his knowledge, only the Sarawak museum has a pantun plate in their collection. Says Pauzi: “You can see that these plates were made especially for the Malays in the Malay world. The pantun is uniquely Malay, handed down orally for generations. These plates show the importance of pantun in the Malay society at that time. This is part of our heritage.”
Excitedly, he picks out a plate, believed to have been made in 1826. It’s a dinner plate with the rhymes written in red ink.
“Pinggangnya ramping dadanya bidang
Susunya seperti telur kepudang
Sangatlah suka patik memandang
Seperti puteri di Gunung Ledang.”
(Her waist is slender, her chest wide
Her breasts are like orioles’ eggs
Gives me such pleasure to behold,
Like the Princess of Gunung Ledang.)
Suffice to say, the pantun was one of many that celebrated the beauty of a woman. An element of uniqueness in this particular plate is the element of advertising, also in the form of rhymes, inscribed on the rim.
“Yang membuat namanya Adam
Wakilnya Tolson di Batawi
Syair dan pantun banyaklah ragam
Janganlah tuan kikir membeli.
(The maker is named Adam
His agent in Batavia is Tolson
There are plenty of syair and pantun
Don’t be mean in buying it.)
There must have been several agents acting on behalf of the manufacturers. And for this particular plate, the agent was Tolson who was based in Batavia or Jakarta, as it is known today.
At the back of the plate is again the name of the manufacturer, W. Adams and Sons, placed next to a medallion. Inside the medallion is inscribed the word “Malay”, possibly made exclusively for the Malay market. According to Chambert-Loir, W. Adams and Sons was a very famous firm, established in Staffordshire in the early 19th century and whose wares were exported to India and the Far East.
On the same day, after setting eyes on some very precious pantun plates in the museum, I saw another pantun plate sitting in a glass cupboard of Wan Asma Wan Mohammed Ali, in Gombak. The dinner plate with red motifs on a white floral base was inscribed with the words:
“Ayohai sekalian ikhwan
Eloknya pinggan tempat makanan
Di tengah majelis diaturkan
Serta dengan bersuka-sukaan.”
(Hello there everyone,
how beautiful is this plate for food,
arranged in the middle of the function,
with lots of merriments.)
This particular plate was made by F. Regout & Co in Maastricht, Holland as evident by the inscription on the back. Not much else is known about where the plate was acquired although it’s suspected to be part of a bigger collection. Only this one had survived.
In an article written by Chambert-Loir, Eating The Text: English Plates Decorated With Malay Poems, the scholar answered the question topmost in my mind: How were the pantun inscribed onto the plates thousands of miles away?
According to Chambert-Loir, the plates were printed using the process of transfer-printing, first used in England around 1750. The design is engraved on a metal plate, then impressed on a thin piece of paper, and subsequently transferred to the surface of the pottery or porcelain. The transfer was first made over the glaze, but the design could easily be removed if the plates were actually used. This method was widely used by W. Adams and Sons.
The plates that Chambert-Loir saw during his research had more than pantun inscribed on them. While some of the pantun celebrated the beauty of a woman, some offered advice on borrowing money and choosing friends. Others had religious undertones with some very sententious warnings.
It’s safe to assume that the unique table ware that made their way from the pottery capitals of Europe must have been acquired by people of high standing in Malay society — the bangsawan, who could afford to parade such exquisite wares on their tables.