Tray (bokor), silver, chased, Riau Islands, Indonesia, 19th century

Tray (bokor) of silver, circular with flat rim, chased around the rim and interior base with floral, leaf and interlocking motifs enclosing jawi inscription at the centre.

Bequeathed by E. S. Wilkinson

IS.250 to 451-1950 and IS.1 to 7-1952, came from the collection of Mr. Richard James Wilkinson (1867-1941), who was formerly Deputy Governor of the Straits Settlement (1911 to 1916) and later Governor of Sierra Leone (1916-1922). He had acquired a collection of mostly Malay silverware and goldware, niello work, arms, etc. in Singapore and the Federated Malay States, which on 23 June 1919 was lent to the Indian Section of the V&A with the possibility of later making a bequest. A second loan of Malay brasswork followed on 31 October 1921. A total of 209 pieces were finally bequeathed to the V&A on 26 October 1950 following the death of his widow, Mrs Edith Sinclair Wilkinson.

Inscriptions on Malay silverware are rare. They are mostly used to record ownership. In the centre of this dish is a Jawi script, an Arabic alphabet for writing the Malay language, which says, 'Encik Antik punya bokor' (Encik Antik owns this dish). The use of the word bokor identifies this as a tray for holding a water vessel.

IS.256A-1950