Showing 181–192 of 197 results
Vintage Burmese teak heddle-pulley used in strip-weaving on small handlooms. Here surmounted by a ferocious mythical lion as guardian of Buddhist law. Mythical beasts believed to protect the weaver and assure high quality weaving.
Javanese Wayang (puppet theater) Topeng (literally “pressed against the face” or mask) is a very refined dance form accompanied by gamelan music. In Bali Topeng tua is the charming dance of an old courtier’s fragile movements, his lack of control and his gathering energy for a short lively dance. He sits behind a cloth curtain,…
This ethnic and folk-art Bali legendary court minister (topeng patih) is performed in a special mask dance named Topeng Panjegan, as only one dancer interprets five different characters wearing full face masks preventing speech. Patih manis (Sweet Minister) is often the first solo dance after a gamelan orchestra introduction, and this patih keras (strong minister)…
All ethnic mask (topeng) dances in Bali are accompanied with music from a gamelan percussion orchestra as are dramas and other entertainments considered as offerings to honor, please and attract the favor of the gods and ancestral spirits. In the west dancers put on masks to pretend they are someone else. Balinese dancers become the…
Court ministers (patih) in Bali, Indonesia are danced in mask (topeng) performances named Topeng Panjegan where a single dancer interprets 5 legendary characters wearing full face masks, cannot speak and much portray them only through gestures and body language and positions. Patih manis (literally sweet, a good natured, diplomatic minister) is often the first solo…
Traditional Burmese dance has its roots in folk religion and is a combination of ancient animism, nat worship and a later syncretic blend with Buddhism. Ethnic minorities often perform dances that include warriors , Zawgyi (shaman) and nats wielding swords or holding drums while dressed in full-body costumes. Burmese performances were regulated with limitations on…
This charming vintage folk-art panel of a barefoot female farmer with a woven rattan basket behind her with the handle over her forehead is part of a 3 part set of farmer images
Burmese women always did strenuous work, yet they rarely see themselves as farmers. This is due to Burma’s old patriarchal culture, Burmese laws and narrow rural beliefs defining them as workers laboring for men only: their father, brother or husband. This wonderful painted wood panel of a barefoot female farmer depicts her with the long…
This Chinese Republic Period delicate porcelain figurine holds a rose at her heart in her right snow white hand, her left arm covered by her shawl resting on a waist-high decorative vase with an opening to hold incense (joss) sticks. Her shawl drapes over her shoulders and lower garment with floral motifs extending to the beaded belt at her waist. The sweet facial expression with slightly smiling bowed lips is framed by her piled hair looped in a chignon over each ear. Given her luxurious garments and accessories, she is an aristocratic woman. The rose was often used on porcelains during this period, representing eternal spring.
This vintage Indonesian rice paddle/spoon was crafted from local wood by a Lombok craftsman and is a fine example of the cultural art of the Sasak people who number three million and comprise about 80% of its population. As animism farmers for two millennia, they lived in houses surrounding religious compounds where they held religious…
Deeply set cut-out eyes and mouths are traditional for West Timor ancestor masks as are few, none or menacing teeth. They are rare and often have hair on animal hides on the upper lip, brows and head. Often looking threatening with stark features, their black color, teeth and often lack of balance scare off malevolent and evil spirits. Storing them in the rafters above the house hearth accounts for their smokey black color. Timor Ancestor masks have an earthy expressive presence and a raw spirit.
Timor’s religion has been described by Barbier as ritual exchanges between persons and social groups with their ancestors and fertility spirits. Timorese believe they can be upset by wicked forces, sickness, infertility and other forces, but particularly by the failure of the living to make suitable sacrifices to ancestral spirits. The departed protect and bring prosperity to the living as long as they are honored properly, so there is a close reciprocal link between the deceased and the secular world. Ancestors mediate between the living and the unseen world for living relatives. Their masks are used in animist veneration rituals, protective ceremonies and ritual dances or ceremonies tied to fertility, harvest, or funerary rites Besides masks, the living s are obliged to carve ancestor effigies to honor departed souls for them to occupy and rest in during their village visits. Many ceremonies usually occur in a house room known as “the womb” where a pillar supports beams rising up to the roof struts. This functions symbolically as an axis mundi (the center of the world or cosmic axis) that connects heaven and supports a simple altar above the floor to hold religious artifacts, protective fetishes and charms to ward off evil. So masks, effigies and fetish objects are protective and magic objects used throughout Indonesian islands in. Timor masks were rarely seen in the west until the mid-1970s.
Vintage bivalve mold figures like this cow were hand luted and hand painted, in the likeness of Hindu religious figures, soldiers, animals are used in rural India where they are seen as wishes for a better life.
End of content
End of content