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Terracotta tile portraying a seated female musician playing a lute with 2 attendants, and a third person in the distance. The scene is framed in an attractive and decorative curved wide border with a pointed arch called an ogee arch originating in India.
Timor masks are rare, intense, characterized by large roughly cut eyes and sometimes have no teeth. This one is not completely black from being stored in house rafters and also has no animal hide with hair attached to it. Its surface has darkened unevenly and there are white bits of white especially on the front. Threatening due to its lack of teeth, asymmetrical eyes and their lack of balance, ancestral masks are used in offering rituals designed to drive off malevolent spirits, scare enemies and perform ritual ceremonies and war celebrations.
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.
This mid 20th century Buddha Shakyamuni in Earth Witnessing position is carved in rural Lao style. Covered with gilt, the small rustic and simply carved image follows Lao artistic canons for depicting a Buddha: a curved hairline and high arched eyebrows that meet at the bridge of the nose, distinct hair curls, long ears, and a flame-shaped radiance emerging from his ushnisha. Its very large base is as tall and wide as the image, reflecting Laotian beliefs that a high pedestal reflects a deep respect for the Buddha. A base has been added for display purposes. Authentic old Lao images, even small personal ones like this, are difficult to find.
Influenced by Islam for centuries, Javanese theater in Indonesia is stylized, didactic and full of central characters said to be cultural and historic icons of morality. Mask drama theater (Topeng Wayang) in Java is dominated by the conservative central Javanese palace courts (kraton) of Surakarta, Solo and Jogjakarta (Yogyakarta) which have long supported mask makers,…
This colorful terracotta image of Shiva and Parvati is aniconic (symbolic) and figurative. Shiva’s is a symbolic lingham (phallus) and Parvati a deity. Together they represent the union of masculine and feminine, thus all existence
This outstanding delicately antique carving is Nanhai Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, seated on a rocky outcrop covered with a cloth, a reference to her home in a cave on the island of Putuo in the South China Sea. Other than the Buddha, she is the most revered deity in Mahayana Buddhism and one of…
Chinese Republic ceramic parrots are commonly depiction as this one perched on an open rocky base. Porcelain parrots were produced for the domestic and export markets and sometimes sold in pairs leading some to believe they, like pairs of fish, symbolized the love and fidelity of married couples. This one has vivid polychrome colors, large eyes and stylized wings. This piece is in excellent condition.
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.
Colorful bearded official/entertainer doll with traditional hat, dark blue and gold robe holding paper clappers castanets. Mounted on lucite.
Artfully shaped lacquered Hsun Ok for offerings to monks lid with a finial symbolizing a Buddhist stupa and applied mythical animals and floral decorations. Early 20th century pieces with these special details are harder to find and copies abound.
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