Bratang Bird Market - Surabaya

There are several bird markets that available in Surabaya city. One of those is Pasar Burung Bratang/Bratang Bird Market, which located in Bratang area. This bird market seems built in around late of 70's or early of 80's. I just visited this place first time in the end of 1983. At that time, the building looks still in good condition, I thought like it is been built in just couple years ago, still seems like a new building to me.
In early of 80's, when I used to go to this place, I've seen the front yard, that was the parking area today, used to be a place for hanging the birds. I was not sure, was that for the competition or exhibition or just for exercise. The steel pipe frame is set on that place with a small diameter of bamboo webbing/plait and a number is painted in there, functioned as points to hang the birds. Some birds as common popular birds to be exhibited that time were Chinese Hwamei or Melodious Laughingthrush (Leucodioptron canorum, formerly Garrulax canorus)Black-faced Laughingthrush/Poksay [Garrulax Affinis], Straw-Headed Bulbul/Cucak Rawa [Pycnototus Zeylanicus] and White-rumped Shama [Copsychus Malabaricus].
At the time I used to go to this bird market is the best time for some imported birds such as: Black-faced Laughingthrush/Poksay, Melodious Laughingthrush/Hwa Mei, Yellow Rumped Serins/Black Throated Canary, Gray Singing Finch, Kinds of Canaries, Red-billed Leiothrix/Pekin Robin, etc. It was so easy to get those bird kinds in the market, a thing that very opposite in conditions today, which those birds are very rare and no more imported birds available in the market.
Today, this bird market is still provides many kinds of bird, but the transaction is very minimum in number, also in values. Most of them are now also selling cages, in varies kind and type, in case to help their income, daily income, while they can not sells too many birds every month. This condition was caused by some issues and problems. One of those problems was the condition that not everyone is dealing or buying birds in the birds market. A lot of them are buying/trading the birds in the house [to house], on the birds exhibition or during birds championship, even trading via the internet, so this condition will kills the business in the birds market automatically.
The Bratang Birds Market's condition today was very needs concern. The building is getting poorer, the painting is more and more paler, the place is dirty, the electrical installation requires re-new, the floor tiles are cracks everywhere, dirt and needs to be replaced. The walls, as you could see in the pictures on above, is very dirty, stained by paints, and also gets rotted.
If you want to get the best quality of painted, hand painted or sprayed paint, cages in East of Java area or even in Indonesia in my opinion, this place is the right one. Some shops in Bratang are producing, in place, best cages, especially hand painted cages. Some shops which selling and producing painted cages also doesn't produces the cages in place, but they have another workshop and do the painting works in there. I have been in many birds markets in different places and different cities, been visited many shops that selling the cages for birds, and I have proven that I could not find better place than in here in order to get best quality of painted cages.
You can see in the both pictures on above, their main and major traded items were the cages. Some cages are still in raw material,ready to be set & finishes shall be applied, some of those cages were ready to be sold as seen in those pictures on above.

Amazing Fretworks: Carving Bird Cages Pt. 2

Once again, a friend of mine invites me to visit his store, located in Bratang Bird Market, Surabaya, where he sells a lot of high quality product of fretwork/carved bird cages. He would like to show me some new bird cages, just arrived from Solo, Jepara's Carving Artist products. The first one is a cage with carving that tells a story about war in Chinese ancient history. Well finished in very colorful and feels too bright for me. Very eye catching Cage.
The second picture is showing the cage, carved with a story tells about the legend of 8 [Chinese] gods. The carving itself is very good, better than the first one, but it has different carves style. The texture is fine, not too many bass-relief/bulge as it appears in the previous cage in the first picture. It is carved in a plain thin wooden material, opposite to the first one. The colors for the finishing works also softer, better color according to my opinion.
The next one is a cage, round shape and the size is bigger than the previous cages size. This size is designated for White-Rumped Shama [Copsycus Malabaricus], which has long tail or also can be used for Straw-Headed Bulbul [Pycnonotus Zeylanicus]. It carves shows no story but theme about the feline family; the lion, tiger, and their kind. The carving quality is fair enough, as fair as its natural finishes.
I like this simplicity theme. But in regards to its weight, I consider that in daily basis usage, it is not wise to use this cage. It will softly damage your nerve and muscular. It is too heavy to be simply lifted, even for a sturdy one. :-) The picture is showing the crown only and the full picture of the cage is available in the next picture.
Last but not least, the last one is a funny cage. Its carving theme is about a cartoon or comic, named 'One Piece'. This cartoon character was ever been a favorite one of my daughter. Anyway, this cage is not my favorite. Just for fun.

Amazing Fretworks: Carving Bird Cages

Couple days ago, I was informed by a friend of mine, he said that he had received new cages. They are just coming from the carver & fabricator, 'fresh from the oven'. He invite me to come and take a look at them. He knows that I am a fret-works lover. So, today I come and visit his shop in the bird market, located in the east part of town.In the mid of the day, I arrived, as I have called him before for appointment and to ensure that he is available at that time, and gladly he greets me. After a little bit chit chat, we started to talk about the stuffs. He presents it from a cage to other cage, explains the motif/theme of each cage.
I found an interesting one, a fine fret-work, carved cage that wears theme about 'Subali', one of the figures/character in 'Ramayana', a legend/story from India, also risen in the 'Hindu' religion. The story is written by Walmiki/Balmiki, a poet, which also risen as a poet in the story. This epic wrote the story about a kingdom 'Kosala' in India and also kingdom 'Alengka' in Ceylon, with intrigues and political acts contents. The story has simple line, easy for the reader's digest. I like the relief. It has finishes in colors, painted using air brush system. Full of colors ... Even the 'Batik', the original/traditional textile/costume in the relief also painted with the inscription style by freehand, a micro fretwork in painting.
Kwan Kong or Guan Yu, a Chinese legend, that telling the story about the Gods of War, also embedded in the cage's relief as seen in the next [second] picture. The finishes in natural color, close to the wood color, using the melamine or polyurethane clear coating for the final coat. The cage also equipped with a crown, wooden material base, that also fully engraved with small carving, with a same theme and character. The cage is column less, as the ductility and the strength of the cage are coming from the small bamboo bars only. The door also well decorated with fine fretwork, small carving with same theme and character also. The door's handle, the upper part also decorated. Small shape with fine craving are used as the locking system for the crown's hooks. It is a unique design for a cage.
The third picture is showing same type of cage as the previous one, a column less cage. The fret works is fine enough. The relief is telling about the legend of the 'Kilin' beast. This is also the Chinese story/legend, where the Barongsai tradition are started and arisen. Shortly, the story told, once upon a time, there was a monster arise in the village and destroy anything, no one could stop it. Suddenly, a beast, looks like a lion kind but it purely different, out of the blue and then fight the monster and successfully killed the monster. People named the beast as 'Kilin'. In the another day, a monster came up again and there was no Kilin to show up, so the people made the imitation of Kilin to drive the monster away. It was the beginning of the Barongsai tradition, which also has been introduced in Indonesia since hundreds years ago. Anyway, I really like this 'Kilin' theme.
The more detail in larger picture that showing the 'Kilin' pattern is available in the next picture on above. I like the cage's theme, but the cage's type, naturally I do not like the columns less kind. To me, carved columns in the cage is very beautiful. I also noted, almost all carving cages are very heavy and weighing the roof's bars and so the vertical bars, if it is columns less. So I think it is not clever to choose this type.
The picture in the left is a round shape cage. It wears same theme as the previous one, the 'Kilin' theme, but in round shape and also in different finishes type. This cage is using the color finishes, a very bright and eye catching color. This cage is addressed to be used for Love Bird, based on its dimension and shape. This cage is very tall. The base part, a horizontal round plate, is a very shiny black plain, so, think if I have this one, seems it is very sadly to say that the shiny one will be stained by the bird's waste .... hahaha.
This cage is my favorite cage. It has funny theme, the Cocks [male chicken. All about chickens. The carving style is looks like Balinese, but still seems Jepara in detail. Very fine fret work. The color is perfect, light brown, almost yellow, it is very natural color, as the wooden material it self. It has a lot of additional decorations, such as the corner stiffener, the crown, crown sides decorations, perches & food bowls accessories. All made in fine carves and so in same theme. It looks classy and has real good style.
The last picture is most simple one. The relief is not too small neither too detail. It is also not too heavy. But the fret works is still quiet good and so the finishes. The carves shows the 'Shio'. The Sheng xiao (Chinese: 生肖; pinyin: shēngxiào), better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac (Chinese: 中国十二生肖; pinyin: zhōngguó shí èr shēngxiào), is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. It has wide currency in several East Asian countries besides mainland China and Taiwan. The finishes in colorful paint.

Those cages are very fine art works, made by good carving artist, plus quiet good finishes applicator. So, in a long the stream of production & distribution, from the carver until ended in the cage seller, it had taken very much effort, cost and time for production, it is considerable that the price will be very expensive.