Vintage Mask of Minister Kebo Taruna, Bali (1301-11QBE) $125

Description

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 is easier to carve crack resistant. A mask (topeng in Java and tapel in Bali) of a high-born person is a full mask prevents speech, so a joking attendant, servant or clown wearing half-masks (penasar) ) tells the story about legendary and historical  characters in the ancient Javanese literary language called kawi that is also translated into Balinese to pass on the stories that teach history and the moral principles of Hinduism taken from the epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as well as Babad Dalem, the Chronicles of Balinese Kings. They also  comment on history in a way that produces uproarious laughter from the crowd, argue with each other, present conflicting sides of the story using slapstick humor, wit and comic asides and provide local gossip to the audience having no connection to the drama at hand. This mask was personally collected in Bali in the 1970s and is part of the VA Deities-and-Legends collection