Carved Wooden Traditional Mask from Timor Island, Indonesia, circa 1970s

Timor Island sculpted wooden traditional mask (circa 1960s-1970s) on contemporary stand. This is a traditional mask of a figure with male facial features and two holes as eyes and another for the mouth. The island of Timor gave rise to a distinctive practice of creating traditional masks whose precise origins and significance remain uncertain. Portraying both male and female ancestors, they were held by men during dances and other ceremonies, including celebrations of victory in war. Carved sculptures and masks are specific to rural villages. Here the practice of animism, or nature-worship, is incorporated with the carving of ancestral statues and masks, which have a ritualistic function. Some occasions that call for these ceremonies may include asking for successful crop planting, for prosperity, for good...

Carved wooden vise tool with human figure finial from Nias, Indonesia (circa 1960s-1970s). A striking carved piece with geometric patterns on the top and ...

Carved buffalo horn tattoo ink pot from Timor Island, Indonesia (circa 1940s-1950s) on a modern stand. The carving on this piece is very skillfully detailed at a level well surpassing most pieces from the region. A monkey grasps the ink pot as if it were climbing a tree trunk. On the forepart of the pot an ancestral or ritual mask...

Ritual ladle of wood and coconut shell from Timor Island, Indonesia (circa 1950s). Intricate spoons and ladles were most likely used for large ceremonial feasts and offerings to ance...

Double-sided carved wooden blawong board from Java, Indonesia (circa 1920s-1950s). Blawong boards were used to hold a pair of Keris daggers. They were fix...

Pair of water buffalo horn and carved wood lime powder holders for betel nut from Timor Island (circa 1970s). One is topped by a carved water buffalo and the other, a dog. The first ...

Hand-carved from Iron Wood this is a wonderful example of a Backstrap Loom, an essential component of Ikat textile weaving. The Curved section would fit around the weavers back not o...

Material: lavastone 270 cm high 250 cm diameter Newly made from +/- 175 individual stones Originating from Indonesia Similar to the stupas on B...

3 carved wooden Ceremonial Masks from Nigeria, Africa and Indonesia These are unusual pieces, they are all carved in wood and painted One is a Yorubastam Gelede from Nigeria, it dates from the 19th Century and would have been used in fertility rituals, there are holes all around the bottom from which the costume would have been fixed The mask is good and sound, the colours are bright, it is 14” high, 10” wide and 13” back to front 19th Century Carved Wooden African Funeral Mask The second is a Funeral mask from Africa, it is painted in traditional black and white chalky paint, it dates from the 19th Century and would have been used in burial rituals, there are holes at the back of the mask from which decorative hair would have been hung The mask is good and sound, it is 16” high, 8” wide The final mask in this collection is a Saraswati Topeng Carved Wooden Dance Mask from Indonesia This is a charming painted Indonesian dance Mask, in the character of Saraswati, with her signature gold feathered head dress...

Material: Andesite stone Material: wood 69 cm high 39 cm wide and 42 cm deep Andesite is a very hard volcanic stone Originating from Indonesia Hand carved from one block of na...

Material: Andesite stone Material: wood 100,5 cm high 68,5 cm wide and 47 cm deep Andesite is a very hard vulcanic stone Dhyana mudra Originating from Indonesia Newly hand ca...

Material: lavastone 121 cm high 60 cm wide and 50 cm deep Originating from Indonesia Newly hand carved from a single block lavastone Estimated weight : +/- 200 kg Can be shipp...