Piet van Donk Indonesian Cockspur Cases Kotak Taji
uitg Hess & de Graaf 2000
Kotak taji' is Balinese for a small box in which spurs used during cockfighting bouts are ceremoniously stored and handed down to the next generation. Twenty-five years of meticulous collecting has resulted in a fantastic and exciting accumulation of more than 540 cases from the Indonesian archipelago, mostly originating from the exotic islands of Bali and lombok, but also from Sulawesi and Kalimantan. The creation of these unique beautiful pieces of craftsmanship carved out of wood, bamboo, bone or ivory may soon become a forgotten tradition as cockfighting has been forbidden by law throughout indonesia, as indeed it has in almost all other parts of the world.