Height: 50 cm Material: Gilt wood; one wearing silk shot through with gold over cotton petticoats, the other wearing a cotton dress. Balinese puppets came from the small island of Bali. “They are made of painted leather or wood and adorned with splendid garments, mantles, diadems, necklaces...their expressions are either ecstatic or demonic...These figures represent jinn, demons, heroes, and divinities from Indian mythology and legend†(Encyclopedia of World Art). The Bali puppets at Beeghly Library are not the flat-leather puppets (of wayang-kulit) which performed before screens, but are wayang-golek, “a completely rounded wooden figure that was developed in Java, it is less powerful because it is more photographic†(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art).
A demon attacked by a monkey warrior. To be used in a Wayang Kulit performance of the Ramayana.
Part of a set;These are small statues known as pretima or pratima in Bali that likely date to the mid-twentieth century. Such objects are preserved in small temple shrines and taken out in procession on festival occasions. Their specific identities are iconographically unmarked. They are known only through context, community memory and ritual use. On occasions of temple renovation a Brahmana priest sometimes ritually repaints pretima. The male figure appears to have been repainted in this way and the female figure has not. This explains its relatively crude painting by contrast to the more refined painting on the female figure, which would have been done by an artisan at the time of its production.
Merdah, one of the Balinese Wayang Kulit clowns.
Part of a set;These are small statues known as pretima or pratima in Bali that likely date to the mid-twentieth century. Such objects are preserved in small temple shrines and taken out in procession on festival occasions. Their specific identities are iconographically unmarked. They are known only through context, community memory and ritual use. On occasions of temple renovation a Brahmana priest sometimes ritually repaints pretima. The male figure appears to have been repainted in this way and the female figure has not. This explains its relatively crude painting by contrast to the more refined painting on the female figure, which would have been done by an artisan at the time of its production.
Hanuman, the leader of the monkey army and loyal servant of Rama. This specific image of Hanuman would be used only once in the Wayang Kulit Ramayana performance to represent the episode in which Hanuman flies to Lanka bearing the healing herbs that will enable the distressed monkey army to rally and turn the tide in their epic struggle with the demon army.
Merdah, one of the Balinese Wayang Kulit clowns.
Unidentified heroine.
An unidentified male hero. The only iconographic clue to his specific identity is his dark color, which suggests that this may have served as an image of Kresna (Krishna) in the Mahabharata epic.
Architectural sculpture (post support).
It is carved on both sides depicting a female dancer flanked by red and green nagas. Possibly belonging to a musical instrument, a processional vehicle or a temple ornament. Holes drilled beneath the nagas indicate that it was once fastened to a larger assembly.
Probably supports for musical instruments.
The monkey king Sugriva from the Ramayana epic
An unidentified male hero. The only iconographic clue to his specific identity is his light color, which suggests that this may have served as an image of Lakshman, brother of Rama, in the Ramayana epic.
This is a Kayonan or Gunung, representing the cosmic tree/mountain. It is used with a fluttering motion by the puppeteer (dalang) to open and close a performance of the Wayang Kulit. It functions as a cosmic axis, both linking and separating the forces of light and dark, the gods and the demons whose interaction informs the drama of worldly life. Both the tree and mountain indicate the link between the coarse (sakala) world of everyday life and the subtle (niskala) realm of invisible beings made visible to human eyes in the form of flickering shadows. The dalang symbolically invites the audience to metaphorically climb the cosmic tree to the subtle realms above.
Monkey warriors to be used in shadow puppet (Wayang Kulit) performances of the Ramayana epic.
Monkey warrior to be used in shadow puppet (Wayang Kulit) performances of the Ramayana epic.
Wayang Kulit clown. This is possibly Bagong, one of the clown servants of the Pandawa family in the Mahabharata epic, marked by his fat belly and backside, bald head, slow deep voice and dull wit. He was once equipped with a movable lower jaw to dramatize the attributes of his speech. Of note is the ceremonial dagger (keris) in his sash. His dark color and heavy features indicate his relative coarseness in contrast to his refined Pandawa masters.
Probably supports for musical instruments.
Height: 50 cm Material: Gilt wood; one wearing silk shot through with gold over cotton petticoats, the other wearing a cotton dress. Balinese puppets came from the small island of Bali. “They are made of painted leather or wood and adorned with splendid garments, mantles, diadems, necklaces...their expressions are either ecstatic or demonic...These figures represent jinn, demons, heroes, and divinities from Indian mythology and legend†(Encyclopedia of World Art). The Bali puppets at Beeghly Library are not the flat-leather puppets (of wayang-kulit) which performed before screens, but are wayang-golek, “a completely rounded wooden figure that was developed in Java, it is less powerful because it is more photographic†(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art).
Height: 50 cm Material: Gilt wood; one wearing silk shot through with gold over cotton petticoats, the other wearing a cotton dress. Balinese puppets came from the small island of Bali. “They are made of painted leather or wood and adorned with splendid garments, mantles, diadems, necklaces...their expressions are either ecstatic or demonic...These figures represent jinn, demons, heroes, and divinities from Indian mythology and legend†(Encyclopedia of World Art). The Bali puppets at Beeghly Library are not the flat-leather puppets (of wayang-kulit) which performed before screens, but are wayang-golek, “a completely rounded wooden figure that was developed in Java, it is less powerful because it is more photographic†(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art).
Height: 50 cm Material: Gilt wood; one wearing silk shot through with gold over cotton petticoats, the other wearing a cotton dress. Balinese puppets came from the small island of Bali. “They are made of painted leather or wood and adorned with splendid garments, mantles, diadems, necklaces...their expressions are either ecstatic or demonic...These figures represent jinn, demons, heroes, and divinities from Indian mythology and legend†(Encyclopedia of World Art). The Bali puppets at Beeghly Library are not the flat-leather puppets (of wayang-kulit) which performed before screens, but are wayang-golek, “a completely rounded wooden figure that was developed in Java, it is less powerful because it is more photographic†(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art).
Possibly an architectural detail. Carved wood.
Said to be the “arm†of a musical instrument.
The monkey king Subali from the Ramayana epic.
