A clay double-gourd vase tells us that the old Perak of Gangga Negara wasn’t an isolated kingdom. It had seen many fine things.
Pictured above: Labu sayung or clay double-gourd vases from Perak at the Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: ©Salina Christmas.
I’m always intrigued by the origin of labu sayung in Perak, and it’s resemblance to the double-gourd vase which is Oriental in origin. It’s believed that the shape, in the context of ancient Chinese material culture, originated from Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). Who influenced whom, we’re not sure. The shape might have come to us via Indochina.
Why the weird shape? It’s cooling. Apparently, it can keep the water cool as low as 3º Celsius. Why the need to cool it down? Maybe to avoid evaporation. Imagine if you’re a nomad from a hot desert in a central plain somewhere. The vase will preserve your water. What liquid needs to be cooled? Wine’s the first thing that comes to mind. Maybe as wine becomes unacceptable somewhere, it’s just nice to have cold water for drinks.
The dot that joins the labu sayung and the shape we know as a Song artefact, we found at Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
The dot that joins the labu sayung and the shape we know as a Song artefact, we found at Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. That’s the photo of the Creative Director of our books having a feel of a 15th Century Ming vase. It is a double-gourd vase made of porcelain.
The ones we came across today at Muzium Negara at its Muzium Etnologi Dunia Melayu (The Ethnology Museum of the Malay World), are double-gourd vases made from terracotta, Perakian style. We know the Mings came here, and they could be the ones who brought the vase to us. But the same can be said of the dynasties before them.
That’s material culture for you. Objects have a social life and plenty of history.
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