Bali was originally an animist culture that became Hindu when it was incorporated into the Majapahit Empire in the 14th century. The Balinese are amazingly skillful artists, craftsmen and musicians. They create brilliant masks and woodcarvings. Visitors to Bali are surprised by the decorative and beautiful details they create using perishable materials such as fruit, banana leaves, rattan, rice, flowers, plants, and other readily available tropical materials to decorate temples, shrines, paths, rice fields and more. Balinese crafting skills have been handed down through generations for centuries and are taught to children at an early age. Their music and dance are world famous, very complicated and seamlessly accompanies a large variety of dramas, mask dances and other dance performances. Balinese dance masks called topeng (literally, pressed against the face) are considered to be “tenget”(endowed with magic). Every Balinese village has a collection of dance masks used in performances as offerings to please the gods and require prayers and rituals with a priest.
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Rangda mask of the Balinese demon-queen with scary upper fangs, missing lower fangs, jagged facial elements, menacing eyes in deep red. She i one of the two most important of Bali’s masks.
This very masterful and unusual Jauk mask carved by the Balinese community on Lombok has a sweet smile and moustache and eyebrows of animal hide and hair. The dancer wear gloves with very long fingernails moving his hands back and forth to generate anxiety in onlookers.
Most jauk keras (strong, scary) masks of a giant are often red or orange to reinforce a volatile dance with jerky movements. This jauk manis (good, sweet) mask dance is a more controlled, regulated and enacted with more calm and human movements.
Rare and very fine vintage woodcarving of Dewi Sri Balinese Hindu goddess of rice and prosperity in excellent condition considering it is a much used piece. Depicted as a young, attractive and fertile woman with highly decorative headdress. Can be mounted on a wall.
Dayu mask of Balinese high-caste female Hindu Brahman, beautiful decorative piece on a museum quality metal stand.
Balinese monkey masks (topeng bojog) are used in dance-dramas based on the ancient Indian moral epic the Ramayana. In Balinese Hinduism, monkeys as sacred guardians and protectors of temples where their auspicious presence brings good luck.
Rare vintage carving dedicated to Dewi Sri, Balinese Goddess of Rice. was probably made for a home shrine or small rice field temple . Hole near the bottom indicates it may have been part of a larger decorative scheme.
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