Foliated Pattern in Malay Carving and 

 Silverwork. 



By E. 0. WlNSTEDT. 



On p. 48 of my paper on " Malay Industries, Part I," " Arts 

 and Crafts" (Kuala Lumpur, 1909), I wrote of Malay repousse 

 work. " It owes many of its patterns to Indian influence — the 

 conventional lotus flower, the leaf of the sacred fig and so on — but 

 there is not a technical term that is foreign for metal (gold and 

 silver) tool or pattern, so that there would seem to be no reason 

 why it should be inferred to be Indian in origin. Indeed it must 

 be something more than coincidence that foliated pattern of the 

 same chaste restraint and conventional character is the note of 

 Malay wood-carving." 



After a visit last year to the famous Bara-bodor in Java, I 

 am persuaded that it is due to " something more than coincidence " 

 that Malay and Javanese carvings and silverwork have their chaste 

 foliated patterns : — namely, to Indian influence. The foliation 

 carved between the panels illustrating the life of the Buddha on 

 that wonderful memorial is identical with the foliation loved by 

 the Malay craftsman, e.g. the socalled ' pine-apple ' or ' side view 

 of the lotus ' pattern. This can be seen clearly, too, on some of 

 the picture-postcards sold of the Bara-bodor. It would be interest- 

 ing to know if there are similar foliated patterns on the ruins of 

 Angkor Wat? 



J«ur. Straits Brajach R. A. Soc, No. 76, 1917. 



