Vintage Monkey Mask (Topeng Bajog), Indonesia, Bali

Description

In Bali, monkeys are important members of the animal kingdom and their presence is believed to echo the active spirit of the gods. Local residents care, feed and honor them. In Balinese Hinduism, monkeys as sacred guardians and protectors of temples where their auspicious presence brings good luck. Symbolizing harmony between humans and nature,  Balinese monkeys in legends are viewed as descendants of the Hindu monkey deity Hanuman from the Ramayana.

Most Balinese masks are considered tenget  (sacred, magical, and powerful) objects and are used in Hindu religious rituals, ceremonies, and historical dramas to represent gods, ancestors, and spiritual entities. Mask dances and other performances are enacted inside or outside temple grounds portraying historical tales, legends, and folklore having moral and spiritual messages.  Balinese monkey masks (topeng bajog) are featured in various dances including the Kecak, Hanoman, Barong dances, Sanghyang Jara, a trance dance that sometimes include monkey themes and motifs, and other Balinese folklore dances. Finely carved and painted folk art are often are often embellished with real or painted animal hides with hair. They depict a wide range of facial expressions from aggressive to comic for deities, mythological creatures, and ancestors and create links between the physical and divine spiritual worlds.

This traditional monkey mask (topoeng Bajog) was fashioned to express its strength and power with expressive facial features with bulging eyes, flared nostrils, and a grimacing red mouth showing its alertness. Monkeys’ auspicious presence brings good luck and  symbolizing harmony between humans and nature.

This finely carved vintage mask with symbolically powerful features was carved in the 1920-1940’s and personally purchased in Bali in the 1970’s. Authentic folk art pieces like this are now extremely difficult to find.