A Peircean triadic semiotic analysis of Sari Oneng Mataram Gamelan ornamentation: Uncovering Javanese cosmological meanings in a Sundanese royal context

This study examines the ornamentation of the Sari Oneng Mataram gamelan, a Javanese/Mataram artefact preserved within the Sundanese royal heritage context of Sumedang Larang, as a visual–material system of signs. It aims to explain how its ornamental forms articulate Javanese cosmological meanings, cultural acculturation, and recontextualization within a different custodial setting. The research used a qualitative design combining ethnographic inquiry with Peircean triadic semiotic analysis. Data were gathered through museum observation, photographic documentation, and interviews with four key informants. The analysis applied Peirce’s relations of object, representamen, and interpretant, together with the semiotic modes of icon, index, and symbol. The findings identify three interconnected visual layers: floral motifs, mythological and hybrid figures, and colour–material codes. These layers form an integrated visual hierarchy in which the ancak suggests life and continuity, while the gayor frames the gong as a protected visual and sonic threshold. Together, the ornamentation operates as a compound semiotic system that suggests Javanese cosmological meanings and reflects processes of Islamic reinterpretation of earlier visual traditions, cultural acculturation, cultural transfer, and recontextualization in Sumedang Larang. The study contributes an integrated Peircean triadic framework for analysing gamelan ornamentation as a visual–material system in which motif, colour, material, and placement jointly produce meaning.