11 February 2020
Bugis flower power: a compendium of floral designs
The collection of Bugis and Makassar manuscripts in the British Library, which has now been fully digitised, covers a wide range of genres from court diaries to literature, treatises on a range of sciences, and religious works on Islamic law and Sufism. Most of the manuscripts are sober textual documents, carefully and neatly written in Bugis/Makassar (lontaraq) or Arabic script, but - save for one compendium of poems - with few formal decorative elements. On the other hand, many manuscripts also contain notes, calligraphic pen trials and doodles, which often include sketches, primarily of a floral nature. This text-light but picture-heavy blog post has brought together all the floral drawings discovered in these manuscripts from south Sulawesi, presented here as a sourcebook for Bugis floral designs in the late 18th century. In each case, the manuscript shelfmarks are hyperlinked to the full digitised manuscript page, so that the sketches can be seen in context; all the manuscripts originate from the royal library of Bone and were captured by the British in 1814.
Floral sketch in a Bugis court diary from Bone, on an empty page prepared for September 1798. British Library, Add. 12373, f. 76v
The one decorated manuscript in the collection is a collection of poems. The largest part of the manuscript comprises a series of fourteen short Bugis poems in tolo' style, concerning heroic episodes in the past: one poem tells of the death of the mid-sixteenth century king of Gowa, Tu-nibatta, whose head was cut off in battle. The volume also contains one Makassar poem (sinrili'), by Arung Palakka on his divorce from Arung Kaju, and it ends with a Bugis war-song (elong-oseng) by Daeng Manrupai. The manuscript is neatly written and opens with a finely double frame drawn in black ink with faint red highlights, shown below.
Opening pages of a collection of Bugis poems, late 18th century. British Library, Add. 12346, ff. 2v-3r
Within the volume new poems are heralded with a horizontal floral panel, all of which are presented below, together with hyperlinks to the folio of the manuscript on which they are found.
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 7r
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 12r
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 19v
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 26r
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 30r
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 46v
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 50r
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 52r
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 56v
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 61v
British Library, Add. 12346, f. 64v
At the start of the first six poems, a single flower is inserted at the end of the first line of text:
British Library, Add. 12346, ff. 7r, 12r, 19v, 26r, 30r, 46v
The only other polished examples of artwork found in a few manuscripts in this collection are of divination diagrams (kutika) based on the compass rose, which were used to establish propitious days or times for certain actions. Some of these diagrams have at their heart an elaborate floral composition.
(Left) Floral pattern at the centre of a divinatory diagram in a collection of Bugis treatises on medicine and other matters, British Library, Add. 12360, f. 62r; (right) a similar floral pattern on a divinatory diagram from a similar compendium on diseases and medicines, British Library, Add. 12372, f. 66r.
The other drawings presented below are all essentially doodles: sketches drawn in blank pages or spaces on a page at the beginning or end of a text. But all are remarkable for the skill and artistry of the artist’s pen, in black ink, sketching intricate floral and foliate compositions.
Doodle of flower with heart-shaped petals, found on the inside back cover of the volume of poetry presented above. British Library, Add. 12346, inside back cover
Floral sketches in a collection of Bugis poems. British Library, Add. 12361, f. 17r
Floral sketches in a collection of Bugis poems. British Library, Add. 12361, f. 18r
Floral sketches in a volume of Bugis treatises on diseases and medicines. British Library, Add. 12372, f. 1v
Floral sketches in a volume of Bugis treatises on diseases and medicines. British Library, Add. 12372, f. 49r
Floral sketches in a volume of Bugis treatises on diseases and medicines. British Library, Add. 12372, f. 73v
Two floral scrolls in a Bugis court diary from Bone for the years 1793-1799. British Library, Add. 12373, f. 2r
Related blog posts:
The Royal Library of Bone: Bugis and Makassar manuscripts in the British Library