The Sambas Treasure is a hoard of ancient gold and silver buddhist sculptures found near the town of
Sambas in west
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
that now form part of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
's collection. Dating from 8th–9th centuries AD, they pre-date the coming of Islam to the Indonesian archipelago by four centuries and were probably made in
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
.
"A Cache of Buddhist figures from the Sambas Treasure"
Khan Academy. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
History of Buddhism in Southeast Asia
Until Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
became the dominant religion in Indonesia in the 13th Century, both Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
were adopted from the India subcontinent as the principal local religions. Over time, many buddhist sculptures were transported to the islands by pilgrims returning from holy sites in eastern India. These in turn inspired local craftsmen who developed their own styles and traits. The buddhist sculptures from Sambas Treasure were almost certainly made in Java based on artistic models that were developed in eastern India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
centuries before.
Discovery and ownership
The Sambas Treasure was found in a large earthenware pot on the south-west coast of Borneo sometime during the 1940s. It was then owned by the collector Tan Yeok Seong, a Singaporean
Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...
historian of Southeast Asia and a collector of historical artifacts. The treasure was subsequently bought by the philanthropist PT Brooke Sewell, who donated it to the British Museum in 1956.
Description
The hoard is composed of nine gold and silver buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
and bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
images. The largest figure is approximately 18 cm high and represents a standing Buddha made of sold silver. In addition to the Buddhist sculptures, the treasure includes a bronze incense burner in the shape of a house and a silver votive plaque with text in dhāraṇī, which was found in the base of the large Buddha figure. The high quality of the craftsmanship and the use of precious metals such as gold and silver suggest they were originally made for an important local dignitary or patron.
Gallery
Image:Sambas-BM-2.JPG, Avalokiteshvara figure with ruby in the backplate
Image:British Museum Asia 8.jpg, Silver standing Buddha under a parasol
Image:British Museum Asia 51.jpg, Bronze incense burner in the shape of a house
Image:British Museum Asia 9.jpg, Avalokiteshvara holding a rosary and a book
Image:Sambas-BM-3.JPG, Buddha with flaming halo and bodhisattva avalokiteshvara
Image:Sambas-BM-5.JPG, Seated Buddha, Padmapani and female bodhisattva
Bibliography
*N. Tarling, The Cambridge History of South East Asia (Cambridge University Press, 1992)
*R. Fisher, Buddhist art and architecture (London, Thames & Hudson, 1993)
References
{{reflist
Asian sculptures in the British Museum
Buddha statues
Buddhist art
Borneo