Interesting bow in an Indonesian museum

[Hyarmendacil]

I went to visit a nearby Indonesian Army museum (a small one maintained by the Siliwangi territorial division) when I heard a report that it included a bow among its collection, and true enough one of the first rooms in the museum's chronologically-structured sequence displays a small bow ascribed to a local volunteer who participated in the war of independence (1945-1945) along with about six arrows. The museum management didn't allow me to photograph anything but they let me make a sketch of the bow and arrows plus some rough measurements.

Judging by the dimensions, the bow doesn't seem very powerful--more like a target bow or at most a small-game hunting bow rather than a war bow. I don't think I can rule out the possibility that it wasn't purpose-built for poking holes in people, though, since the use of poisoned arrowheads is very widespread throughout the Indonesian archipelago and I suppose a bow like this might stick an arrow deep enough into an unarmored foe to deliver an incapacitating dose of poison straight into the bloodstream. Whether the archer would be able to get close enough to deliver a good shot in the face of modern Dutch and Allied weaponry was a different thing entirely....

One thing that didn't quite get into the sketches is the profile of the bow's bamboo limbs. They have an even taper from the grip to the point where the limbs become circular in cross-section, and from that point outwards they flare slightly (while maintaining the circular cross-section) until they meet the separate nock pieces, which are made of some black material--probably iron or horn, and most likely the latter. The limbs are rather narrow throughout, being not more than 5cm (2 in.) wide at their widest point next to the grip and perhaps as narrow as 1.5 cm at the neck where the cross-section first becomes truly circular.

Somehow, I also forgot to mention that the grip is built up with wood over/around the bamboo and then covered with some sort of coarse cloth.

[Stephen Selby]

Yes, these bows are interesting. There are one or two in the Grayson collection. The built-up grip seems to be unique to these Indonesian bows. Did the museum link the bows to any particular cultural group in Indonesia?

S

[Hyarmendacil]

Not specifically, but the museum housing this bow is that of the territorial garrison for West Java and naturally the bow was originally used by a Sundanese (i.e. West Javanese, as opposed to the Javanese proper of Central and East Java) volunteer. In any case, all the examples I've seen of this kind of bow seem to have come from the island of Java, so it's quite possible that the form is specific to this island.

[Dusan]

This bows is stil use in Indonesia.

[Hyarmendacil]

Exactly. I'm planning to visit and report on the next instance of the competition shown in those pictures. The information I have indicates that it's going to be held in May, just like last year.