In spite of limited exhibition space, the Chessmen Museum has got quite the collection. It owns over 500 different chess sets but unfortunately, not all of them can be prominently displayed. The smaller showcases contain some of the most beautiful pieces though, such as the wooden wayang chess set.
Wayang puppets are a familiar sight on Java and they are a popular souvenir among the visitors of this Indonesian island. The dolls are traditionally made by puppet carvers, mainly in the area of Bandung City. They are very happy with tourism as orders from their original customers, the puppeteers or ´dalangs´, are rare. The authentic artisans carve out and paint around 200 puppets a year, sometimes assisted by students or their wives and children to make the arms and legs and the costumes of the figurines.
Hindu sagas come to life
Wayang puppets have been used on stage for centuries to act out historical epic poems. The word ´wayang´ has various definitions these days and can mean a play interpreted by dolls or flesh-and-blood actors, or puppeteer. It can also mean shadow though. The origin of wayang dates back to the 10th century when one-dimensional puppets depicted classic Hindu sagas through shadow play. The puppeteer would often move around the flat puppets behind a screen or a cloth, so that the spectators would see shadows. In more modern versions (from the early 16th century onwards), legends of the earlier Hindu empires on Java are represented, combined with sacred stories from the Islam. The famous three-dimensional puppets were first made in this same period in time.
At first, the three-dimensional dolls only depicted the newer legends, but later on the classic sagas also started to have their own dolls. This new, three-dimensional form of wayang, also called Wayang Golek, began to develop rapidly towards the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, 3D has replaced the traditional shadow play, especially on West Java, and it is considered the most common form of puppetry.
Recognisable heads
Wayang puppets represent the characters from epic poems and legends and a part of them has some standard external features. Gods, princes, giants and noble monkeys are easily identifiable. Noble characters have got delicate facial features, a straight nose and small, slit eyes. The male characters´ faces are usually white (when their head is bent down) or pink (when they raise their head). The faces of the female characters are always white. Giants, on the other hand, can be identified by their big eyes, stubby noses and big fangs, which indicate an unreliable personality and a hot temper.
The costumes that the noble puppets wear are always the same as well: the dolls´ broad, gold-painted torsos and small waists are clad in chest cloths, and a batik loin cloth and a long scarf cover the middle part of their bodies. They wear an ornamental head piece such as a crown or a hat, or their hair is up in a curl. They also wear plenty of jewels like tiaras, decorative ear pieces or little caps in the shape of a griffin´s head. The women also wear a comb in their hair. Kings and queens wear crowns and there are different ones for the reigning king and the heir to the throne. Demons can be recognised by their uncovered, bald round heads.
Characters of lower origins such as ministers, generals, priests, hermits and servants have less specific physical features. Their role in the story is explained by visible character traits. For example, dolls with a big, crooked nose, wide eyes with a red iris and a heavy beard and moustache equal a courageous and combative personality.
All-night-long performances
The century-old plays are truly shows for the people. The dalangs would get out – and still do- the puppets for festive occasions such as births, weddings and harvest festivals, but also for the exorcising of evil spirits. The shows in the villages take place on improvised open-air stages. The dalang is the only one who handles the puppets, sometimes up to a 100 different ones, and makes them laugh, cry, sing and talk in different voices. The puppeteer also does the more exciting stuff like fight scenes by himself and all of it during performances that can last up to eight hours. An orchestra behind the dalang accompanies him with the appropriate music. It comes as no surprise that dalangs are apprentices for years before they can perform as independent puppeteers.
The wayang game at the museum doesn´t require that much practice. At least, not when it comes to handling the pieces. The set is made up of pieces with red or white faces, which are some of the most common facial colours in the puppet shows. The king can be recognised by a larger and more abundantly decorated crown. The queen however, does not look like a female wayang: her costume is the same as the ones on her male counterparts. Also, both king and queen lack the distinctive straight nose of the aristocracy. The other figurines aren´t shaped with the typical facial features of the original wayang puppets either. Even so, this beautiful eastern chess set deserves a visit.