Antique/Vintage Rare Mask of a Good King, Indonesia, Lombok (1316)

Description

Traditional masks made in Bali are made from a light color wood from a tree whose density is low but strong. They are not very hard to carve and also are not prone to cracking. This wood is not available in Lombok. Here, the carver has emphasized the wider, longer and less oval crown than those carved in Bali. His features express and alert, wise, and vigilant king. This is a wonderful piece with considerable age, and was likely  carved about 1920-1940.  Much used, it is carved to have more depth, mass, and weight to give it a greater presence, yet it is actually thin and light.

Lombok is an island east of Bali. Islam and the Balinese arrived there in the in the 13^th century, and the Balinese reigned over the entire island through 1750. The Dutch seized the island and merged it into the Netherlands East Indies in 1895. Balinese are currently a minority group of about 300,000 people and  built Hindu-Balinese temples (pura) there since the 17^th century. They have maintained their Hindu culture, although  the island is a blend of Hinduism, animism and Islam culturally.

A long time ago this mask broke into two pieces and was fixed with great care and reused ritually. There are paint losses, hair losses from the hide eyebrows and moustache and scrapes all expected from a old well used mask. This is a very impressive Balinese topeng dalem, and the  inside of the mask reveals a smooth interior patina confirming its many decades of use.

We have a second topeng dalem made in Lombok that is also a very fine work of art but that is almost this piece’s opposite(see reference #1322). Check it out.