Javanese furniture before 1500 CE: A preliminary survey of its types and styles
This study focuses on furniture in Java before 1500 CE, a period of “classical” Hindu-Buddhist culture, before Islamic influences started to have a prominent impact upon the society, religion, and culture of the island. Even though very little in terms of actual wooden and bamboo furniture has survi...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel, |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicat: |
Archipel
2026
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| Matèries: | |
| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumari: | This study focuses on furniture in Java before 1500 CE, a period of “classical” Hindu-Buddhist culture, before Islamic influences started to have a prominent impact upon the society, religion, and culture of the island. Even though very little in terms of actual wooden and bamboo furniture has survived, visual, textual, and linguistic sources can partially fill the evidential gap. The study intends to provide the first, and rather preliminary, survey of the richness of furniture types and styles documented from Java in the period under study. For the whole period under discussion, furniture was mainly part of the elite and religious environment, while its use outside these social strata was minimal. Even among the elites, the prevailing floor-sitting culture had a key influence on the forms of furniture, of which seats (stools, benches, chairs), low tables (and serving trays), stands, beds, and a variety of storage furniture (racks, chests, boxes) are all attested. Although furniture, its usages and its various forms, represent only a narrow and marginal aspect of life in Java before 1500 CE, this study demonstrates that it still illuminates certain matters of importance in the development of Javanese society. |
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