PAYUNG GEULIS THAT ADORABLE UMBRELLA

Nia S. Amira
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Not only the Sundanese girls who are called as neng geulis; selop geulis (adorable sandal for party) and the umbrella is made to make the look of the pretty Sundanese girl shall be more prettier (read: Geulis = beautiful /pretty). If normal um­brellas can protect us from the big shower (rain), this adorable umbrel­la only can protect us from the heat, as this beautiful umbrella was made by wooden with its cover only made by paper with floral painting, and now also with floral designs that are used on certain motif of Batik.

Payung Geulis is the icon of Ta­sikmalaya city in West Java which are endangered. Around 1926 pa­yung geulis was the favorite acces­sories to young Dutch women who at that time were very fond to bring along their adorable umbrella when they were in vacation during the weekends in the cities they live in West Java area. Payung geulis had its glory from 1955 to 1968. And that golden years was gradually de­clined and manufactured umbrellas from overseas came into the coun­try after the government adopted an open economic policy in 1968 and giving the impact on the de­struction of the craft industry local­ly. The handicraft business began to shine again since 1980s, although in small quantities.

Behind of its beautiful looks, the process of making this adorable umbrella depends on the sun, the frame is made of bamboo. Once assembled and fitted the cloth and the paper, then trimmed umbrella using starch glue. A color is given to the umbrellas and painted with flo­ral patterns. All the process is done manually except the umbrella’s handles which were made by using the machines.

Although only a few people who still preserve payung geulis, like Mak Cicih, the wife of the late Sahrod and her in-laws, where the umbrella is not only limited in the country, but has crossed the globe to Japan, France, and America. The umbrellas with a wide range of very beautiful colors can be used as home decoration, shops decora­tion, even offices decoration, sold at prices ranging from IDR 50,000 to IDR 75,000. Payung Geulis is really beautiful and the look of Indone­sian women wearing traditional fab­ric and kebaya shall not be perfect without taking payung geulis along with them. Payung Geulis is worth to your collection.