Netherlands Indie Ster voor Trouw en Verdienste

[kapten_windu]

When I looking for expedition cross to some antique dealers here in Indonesia, none of them have it, but one of them offered this Ster voor Trouw en Verdienste / Star for Loyalty and Merit complete with it's ribbon and case in very fine condition.

This star established on 1 January 1894 and ceased after 1949.

At first it consists of 4 class:

1. Great Gold Star

2. Small Gold Star

3. Silver Star

4. Bronze Star

in 1924, a new class introduced by then Governor-General of Neth. Indie: the Great Silver Star. Despite the "Great" and "Small" nomenclature, the five grades of the star were all equal in size, consisted of a badge in the form of a 12-pointed star with straight rays, suspended from a ribbon worn on the left chest.

Anyone have the information about the list of recipient of this star?

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2017 by kapten_windu

[kapten_windu]

One the example: Mr N Barus, chief vaccinator in Karo (present day North Sumatra), was awarded Small Silver Star by Mr van Lierre.

(photo taken from google)

Edited September 1, 2017 by kapten_windu

[Hugh]

Thanks for this, Windu.  I'm guessing there would be lots of these, at least in the lower grades.  Do you have any idea about award criteria:  Civil vs. military (or both)?  Was it an automatic award after a certain number of years of service?  

 

Best,

Hugh

[kapten_windu]

21 hours ago, Hugh said:

Thanks for this, Windu.  I'm guessing there would be lots of these, at least in the lower grades.  Do you have any idea about award criteria:  Civil vs. military (or both)?  Was it an automatic award after a certain number of years of service?  

 

Best,

Hugh

Yes, there were many of them, but most of them didn't survive today. These stars were given to local people of Netherlands Indie (present day Indonesia) who worked for the Netherlands Government. As this star often associated with pro-Netherlands people, I believe most of them were destroyed/thrown away after Indonesian independence in 1945 because people who wear/hold/keep Netherlands-thing in after 1945 to late 1960's (before Papua Integration to Indonesia) were considered traitors. But somehow, some of them are survived and made it's way to antique market..

[pieter1012]

Hi Windu,

a nice find, as you wrote already, there are not so many of these awards around anymore, especially with case. Fortunately quite a number of them were brought to The Netherlands, probably before or just after the war, so they turn up from time to time in auctions here.

Actually the Great Gold and Silver star had a different apearance than the small Star. Although I have a number of small Stars in my collection, the Great Stars I am still looking for, but I show here a picture of how they look like. 

Also of the small Stars, there are two versions, the first one with the lions on the crest looking toward you, and the newer one with the lions looking inward, like the one you bought. The older ones had also different ribbons. I have included a picture of the first version of the small Silver Star.

Of course the award documents for this star are very rare to find as most have been destroyed or just lost. I am happy to have in my collection a Bronze Star certificate from 1939.

As these Stars were issued by the Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies, there are unfortunately, as far as I know, no records here in the Netherlands of the number awarded.

I don't seem to get the pictures upright; I insert them like that and then they come out sudeways, sorry for that.

best regards, Pieter

 

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by pieter1012
grammer

[pieter1012]

Here a better picture of the first type, this is the bronze version

[pieter1012]

Windu,

if you allow me to "hijack" your thread, before the Star for Loyalty and Merit was established, the Governor-general could award individual gold or silver medals, to be worn on a chain around the neck to the local officials who distinghed themselves.The golden ones were normally reserved for the Sultans, Pangerans and Radens. Few have been issued and they were all named and dated, and are of course very rare.

In 1871 the Netherlands Indies government decided to standardize these individual awards and made a standard medal, with the Dutch coat of arms at front and the text Het Nederlands Indisch Gouvernement aan....name and titel of the recipient. (the Netherlands Indies Government to...). These medals, in silver and bronze (no more gold ones) were worn on a blue, orange, blue ribbon (like the one on the bronze Star I showed earlier) and were awarded till the Star for Loyaty and Merit was instituted in 1893. 

I have a silver medal in my collection, awarded to Si oepar galar pertoean Sripada. Unfortunately i have little knowledge of Malay, so cannot translate it, except the name Si oepar and he must have been some leader in Sumatra. It is of heavy silver with a diameter of 50mm, made by Van Arcken in Batavia. Hope you like the pictures.

Could finally find out how to make the pictures upright, so here again the document for the Bronze Star, so it will be easier to read.

Best regards, Pieter

Edited September 3, 2017 by pieter1012
grammer

[kapten_windu]

Thank you for hijacking my thread with such incredible information and outstanding collection Pieter, I owe you! 

Do you know when they change the observe seal from lion from looking-to-us-type to looking-inward-type?

This is the first time I saw the star certificate. Fantastic! The certificate belongs to Samadia (local pronounciation could be Sumadia), Depati Mangku (Chief Village) in Pagar Djati, Onderafdeeling Benkoelen-Seloema (present day Bengkulu Province).

About my star, I got this star from a local antique store so I believe this was stored before the war and almost forgotten until one day someone found it and sell it to antique store. 

[pieter1012]

In 1907 the lions in the coat of arms of the Netherlands were officially changed from outward looking to inward looking, so I suppose the crest on the Star was altered around that time.

[fauzan]

 I have this item in Indonesia, as a keepsake from my grandfather as a form of loyalty to the Dutch government.