Treasure shopping

Shopping for Gardensia is one of the great joys Sekti has running our business.  Searching up and down side streets, under and behind tables, statues, and what-else-have-you, then finding a fascinating artifact, natural specimen, or piece of carved art that we couldn't have envisioned before seeing, is an inspiring reminder of the infinite variety of nature's beauty, and limitless creativity of human imagination.

One of our regular sources is a petrified wood showroom run by a young business school graduate and his computer programmer-wife from Jakarta. The store's refreshing air-conditioning provides a rare retreat during shopping marathons in Indonesia's sticky-sweaty tropical heat.  This past shopping trip we were lucky to find a large selection of gorgeous black and white petrified wood pieces, as we know they get snatched-up by Italian importers with barely a glance at the price.  Being a bit more budget-conscious, we asked to meet with the owner, who agreed to a reasonable deal for a fellow Jakarta native.

Sekti selecting petrified wood pieces at a showroom

At the other end of the spectrum is one of our favorite stone sellers.  Their “gallery” is a large open field bordered by a stand of bamboo, rice fields and a creek.  But don’t let this description give you the impression of an idyllic setting to leisurely admire and choose select specimens of artfully carved buddhas and other statues tinted bright green with moss.  The field is so infested with mosquitoes that rather than greeting customers with chilled bottles of tea, without warning and without prior consent, staff spray arriving customers head to toe with a bottle of mosquito repellent.

Selecting statues in the mosquito field

If you went shopping in Indonesia and only visited the big establishments that buy or consign pieces from artists and workshops, you would miss some of the most interesting treasures and best deals to be found. Sekti and long-time friend Handri spend day after day, cruising the streets of Java and Bali, jumping out of the car at promising storefronts, (or pushing the car to service stations when it repeated  breakes down), and scanning the little shops for unique and interesting treasures.  When something catches their interest, if the seller relates an story of the article’s provenance, it may make the difference between a sale and moving on.

Sekti and long-time friend, Handri

Sekti tells this story of visiting a couple of smaller shops last December:

Timor bench outside a closed shop

"For several days Handri and I repeatedly drove past a beautiful Timor bench sitting on the sidewalk in front of a store, but every time we went by, the shop was closed. Finally, when we stopped in at the textile shop next door, the owner told us, 'Oh, he's lazy. You never know when he'll be open,' but she agreed to give him a call for us.

"About 20 minutes later, a man with a fishing pole slung over his shoulder and a tackle bag fastened around his waist hopped off the back of a motor bike and opened the rolling doors. In the end, we bought not only the bench, but several Sumba guardian statues, a pair of shell necklaces from Lombok and a 10-foot woven ikat textile from Sumba. You'd hope he found that worth interrupting his fishing trip.

"About a mile down the road we stopped at a Timor woodworking shop. The proprietor demonstrated the traditional carving technique on an aged wood slab table.  As he tapped a chisel with a block of wood, the familiar concentric geometric shapes and layered ridges slowly took form.


Traditional Timor carving technique

Wood urn from Borneo 

"While we browsed around the store, men who had been hanging around on the street when we arrived began riding up on motorcycles to show us artifacts they had for sale. (The store owner would get a small commission for any items purchased on his property.) One entrepreneur offered a shaman's book of mantras inscribed on lontar palm fronds. Another had the skull of a crocodile. As the shop filled with vendors and their merchandise, more sellers lined up outside for a turn to display their wares. One rode up on the back of a motorbike holding a 4-foot wooden balance worn smoothly over decades of use with leather sling for weighing infants. As intriguing as it was, we had to pass, so the man went to the back of the line. When he got his next turn, he showed us a carved bamboo hunting blowpipe with poisonous darts. This and other various knives and weapons we declined. One item we couldn't resist was a 2 1/2 foot wooden urn from Borneo which arrived hanging off the back of a motor bike tied from the rear grab bar. Another piece which was tough to let pass was a 2-foot diameter menacing Timor guardian head carved from a single piece of wood."

There is no such thing as a credit line with our suppliers, so, not surprisingly, the hardest part of shopping for Gardensia is staying within budget and gambling that if we buy it, we won't find something we want more the next day, or that if we don't get it right then, someone else with deeper pockets won't buy it as soon as we leave. Besides having a keen eye for spotting great finds, Sekti also has a flair for bargaining which seems to involve a big smile and an unprovoked laugh that suggests a party more than a business negotiation. Then again, this is what he loves doing, so for him, it is a party, and a 20-foot container full of presents is on the way.