spinning-top;
toy
- Museum number
- As1978,12.9.a-b
- Description
-
Humming top; ('gasing' or 'panggalan'); consisting of cylinder of bamboo, plugged at both ends by disks of wood painted pink, with wooden skewer as central axis. Oblong hole cut into one side of body, lower end of skewer sharpened to a blunt point. Top is spun using a black nylon thread (b), with a wooden handle. This is wound around the upper section of the skewer.
- Production date
- 1970s (early)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 6.60 centimetres (humming top a)
-
Height: 18.60 centimetres (humming top a)
-
Length: 3 centimetres (thread b including handle)
-
Weight: 59 grammes (humming top a)
-
Weight: 9 grammes (thread b inclduing handle)
-
Width: 3 centimetres (thread b inlcuding handle)
- Curator's comments
- Vendor's fieldwork notes: Called Gasing or Gasingan (Indonesian) or Panggalan (Javanese) (Gasing means 'spinning', but panggalan means 'instrument for smashing others'.) Different sizes of the toy (ie. different diameters of the body) produce different pitches of note). This hollow type of humming top is not really distinguished from other kinds of tops. The Javanese name panggalan obviously refers to the game of throwing tops onto opponent's tops and trying to split them. This implies that this function was more important for a top than whether or not it hummed well. Other top games include competitions to spin a top for the longest time, and to spin a top as steadily as possible so it doesn't wobble or jump.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1978
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased by vendor from street sellers outside the Borobudur monument at Borobudur village, 1977, for approx 25 rupiah.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- As1978,12.9.a-b