Get To Know Terracotta Miniature At Abhinaya Karya Exhibition

Terracotta or terra-cotta (from Italian) it has meaning "burnt earth" or terra cocta (form Latin) is pottery made of clay, so terracotta is term refers to any object made of clay which burned without a glaze.

Terracotta combines nature elements such as earth, water, wind dan fire in it's process. the potter or the clay potter will be chooses clay, then makes the dough with water. After the dough is ready it will be formed, the terracotta will be dried, aerated and then burned into a furnace.
This pottery clay are often found in historical archaecological sites, including ceremonial sites, residences, ports, villages and cities. It was found together with other clay artifacts made by burning at high temperatures 1200 - 1450 degrees celcius, such as stoneware and porcelain from China, Thailand and Vietnam. Terracotta was mostly found at Trowulan, Mojokerto, East Java which was once the capital of the Majapahit Empire. There are various kinds of terracotta products not found on Hindu-Buddhist sites. The types of terracotta products found at Trowulan consist of building element, household tools, toys, production tools, piggy banks and weights.

Terracotta has another function as a toy, including miniature animals, gacuk (hopscotch) and marbles. Marbles during the Majapahit era used round clay marbles of varying sizes. Meanwhile gacuk is a flat, round object which is usually made form pieces of tile or pottery fragments. There are also terracotta miniatures of animals such as pigs and elephants.

At Abhinaya Karya Exhibition, Sonobudoyo Museum showed that terracotta miniature. The collections of terracotta at Sonobudoyo Museum including miniature beavers, miniature pigs, bird heads, elephant heads, dog heads, horse heads, and etc. This collections had been produced since the time of Majapahit Empire, and has been in the Java Institute's collection since 1935.

For you, Sonobudoyo's friend who will see the collection of terracotta, you can visit on Abhinaya Karya Kembara Gembira: Ayo Dolan, Ayo Cerita Exhibition, was opened on July 2 until 30 July at Temporer Building of Museum Sonobudoyo, at 9 AM until 9 PM. For more information you can found on social media account of Sonobudoyo Museum. See you friends.