A BEAUTIFUL COCKEREL TIN INGOT AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM

It is believed that the British Museum has a good collection of tin ingots. One particular item made available on the Museum's website is a beautiful tin cockerel in excellent condition. Described as Gambar Ayam this item that is 100mm in length and with a weight of 43.54g is attributed to the Malay state of Perak. One Gambar Ayam in the mid-nineteen century was said to have a value of 100 Pitis (tin coins) or 100 Duit Ayam (copper tokens bearing the image of fighting cock that were issued privately by certain Singapore merchants). [Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/547341/Walter-William-Skeat]

This item is listed as the Skeat Collection. Walter William Skeat, a British ethnographer of the Malay Peninsula whose detailed works laid the foundation for later ethnographic studies of the area. Following a classical education at Christ's College, Cambridge, Skeat in 1891 joined the civil service of the state of Selangor in the Malay Peninsula. He became interested in ideas of magic found among Malays and in the customary practices and daily life of the aborigines living in the interior. During 1899 he carried out an expedition to Trengganu (Terengganu) and Kelantan, Malay states then under Siamese suzerainty, to collect data on Malay beliefs, traditions, and ways of life in areas not yet subjected to European influence. Illness contracted on this trip forced him to resign from the colonial service, and he spent the remainder of his life in London, serving as one of the Studeley lecturers at the British Musuem from 1914 until his retirement in 1932. His research led to the publication of two major works: Malay Magic (1900) and Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula (1906, with C.O. Blagden).

Skeat's notes and correspondence with G.M. Laidlaw from other notes made in Perak relating to the tin currency and money in use in the Malay Peninsula up until about 1880 were the basis of the book by Sir R.C. Temple entitled The Obsolete Tin Currency and Money of the Federated Malay States. This book will be reviewed in future postings.