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Gongs (gong ageng)
before 1867
Object Place: Central Java, Indonesia
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Mr. and Mrs. Bradford M. Endicott and Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Fraser in honor of Jan and Suzanne Fontein, and the Frank B. Bemis Fund
Accession Number1990.574a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Idiophones
DescriptionTwo large bronze knobbed gongs with the Chinese characters for "Yuan Tze" painted in light green paint on the inside surface. These characters are not typically used to indicate a person's name and therefore may be the name given to these gongs. No Gong Ageng stand survives with the pelog set of instruments. (pelog tuning)
Provenance1840, slendro-tuned ensemble commissioned by Chinese patron, Central Java. After 1840, Priyo family, the Bupati (regent) of Blora, Central Java; about 1876, pelog-tuned ensemble commissioned and combined with 1840s ensemble, Central Java; by 1990, by descent through three generations of the Priyo family to Mr. and Mrs. Supriyo, Blora, Central Java, Indonesia; July 12, 1990, sold by Supriyo to Nyonya Nora, Surakarta, Indonesia; 1990, sold by Nyonya Nora to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 24, 1990)