Malay Wood Carving in Four Traditional Timber Pulpits

Abstract

The history of Malay wood carving is challenging to track down. The sophistication of the wood carving design, however, has drawn the attention of many researchers. The documented history of Malay carving motifs was first influenced by Hinduism. Malay carving motifs evolved and adapted to Islam after the beginning of Islam. The same may be said about the motif and pattern of woodcarving found on the mosque's pulpit. While there is a lot of literature on Malay woodcarving, there is hardly any research on traditional Malay pulpit woodcarving. The carving motifs on traditional mosque pulpits are investigated in this study. Case studies and observations were conducted on four traditional mosque pulpits in Kelantan and Terengganu. The woodcarving motifs are digitized, and a comparative analysis is performed using pictorial grids and repertory grids. Finally, a comparison analysis describes the patterns and motifs of Malay wood carving in the traditional pulpit for future inventory as well as for the historical record of four traditional pulpits in Kelantan and Terengganu.