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Ibeji carvings from Nigeria are idealized folk art conforming to Yoruba artistic and cultural conventions without closely reflecting human likenesses. Symmetrical and restrained with oversized elongated heads where one’s spirit, intelligence and the seat of divine power lie, they often have detailed linear coiffures that can be a third or more of the figure’s body…
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…
Wearing a full mask of an ideal high-born Hindu king (dalem), dancers from Bali perform folk-art and ethnic-art dances without speech using only body language, gestures and movements to depict the mask’s character. Made from light and color-enhancing, easy to carve and durable pulai wood, Balinese-masks (topeng) honor and attract the favor of gods and…
There are two traditional Balinese masks of the king’s prime minister (topeng patih). Both are refined, well-bred warriors from the second caste holding a prestigious position, and, like all dance masks, they are accompanied by a gamelan. This mask is a patih keras (strong minister) which is usually red or orange symbolizing a tough, intense…
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…
This is Kebo Taruna mask a powerful historical Balinese minister (patih) from the 14th century. Considered a folk-art, Hindu-cultural-and-ritual-art, ethnic art and offerings to the gods, masks are danced in a historical drama with the music of a percussion orchestra (gamelan). Balinese-masks are carved using a light durable wood called pulai that enhances pigments and…
Made in Pagan this miniature hsun ok demonstrates the remarkable sense of design of Burmese wood carvers. It is crafted in two separate parts and replicates the shape of larger hsun-Ok, which traditionally have covers with spired lids topped by elegant finials that imitate the soaring outline of Burmese stupa finials. This modest piece has circular tiers repeated on the foot and the stupa finial top.
Given its size this smaller early 20th century Hsun-ok with simple sophisticated designs may have served as a decorative piece with parallel rows of intricate triangular and beaded borders.
This rare folk art Rangda mask was made on the island of Lombok, Indonesia by ethnic Balinese Hindu craftsman. Primarily Muslim, a Balinese Hindu minority ruled the island from 1750-1895 and Hindu temples (pura) have been centers for Balinese activities since the 17th century. Balinese girls are encouraged to “dance with their hands” and formal…
Timor masks like this are rare and characterized by large roughly cut eyes, the absence of some teeth and the remaining ones being menacing. They are stored in the rafters above the house hearth accounting for their smoky black color. Often decorated with animal hide with hair, the facial pieces have either not darkened fully in the rafters or, when placed on top of each other, did not darken evenly. Frequently a bit threatening due to the black color, missing teeth and their frequent lack of balance, these ancestral masks are used in offering rituals designed to drive off malevolent spirits.
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