Antique/Vintage Jetayu Mask, Museum Quality Stand, Bali (1208JKE)

Description

This exceptional polychrome Jetayu mask (topeng in Java, tapel in Bali), blends Balinese ethnic and folk-art with Hindu-cultural-and-ritual-art. Indonesia was part of the larger Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293-1527), and Bali remains a Hindu majority. Balinese Indonesian-woodcarvings and Balinese-masks, are often made from a single piece of local pulai wood, used for its light color that enhances pigments and its durability and low density that make it crack resistant and easy to carve. This was likely one of the masks used for performances of the Ramayana, the massive sacred 5th century BCE Indian Hindu 24,000 verse epic is one of the largest ancient epics in existence. Jetayu is one of many Hindu mythical-animals, and the vahana (vehicle) of Vishnu, one of the triad of principal Hindu gods (trimurti) and the preserver and protector of the universe. In the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, Jetayu fights the King of Lanka to free Sita, the wife of Prince Rama’s who the King of Lanka has abducted. Rama eventually rescues his wife, but Jetayu is killed and honored as the Hindu protector of women. Personally collected in the 1970s, mask are consifered by Balinese as offerings to the gods, and this one is a particularly fine and vary rare on is considered a fine example of Balinese-wood-carving and Indonesian-woodcarvings and is in excellent condition with expected paint losses and scratches demonstrating its age and use. It is mounted on a museum-quality metal stand and is part of the VA Spiritual-and-Inspirational Collections of Hindu-Cultural-and-Ritual Art and Deities and-Legends.

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