"Talam" offering tray, East Javanese period, 13th/14th century

Description

copper alloy,

Large bronze trays like this were used in Hindu rituals in medieval Java. They were used to place ritual utensils and offerings needed for the daily ceremonies held in the temples.

Fragmentary bronze trays of this type, together with other metal temple utensils, have been excavated from a mid-10th century shipwreck in the Java Sea in the past decade, affirming their antiquity. The traditions and ritual practices of Central Java (8th to 10th century) were largely preserved in the following centuries in the Hindu-Buddhist centres of East Java, up to the coming of Islam in the 15th century. (TheMet)