Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Serat Selarasa: Indonesian Art of the Nineteenth Century

Illustrations from a Javanese manuscript in the British Library, dated 1804. It tells the story of Prince Selarasa and his two brothers, who had to leave home after their elder brother became king and treated them harshly.


Although the story is set in the fairy tale past, the illustrations include many elements from contemporary life, such as this ship, flying a Dutch flag.



I was struck by the strangeness of these; here, I thought, is a style of drawing I have never seen before. More here.

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