Product Description

Balinese Woodcarving – Pair of Hands

Material: Ebony wood, hand carved
Style: Bali
Size: Height 8 cm,  Length 33  cm, Width 20 cm
Order Number: BWPH1

Most Balinese wood carvings are handcrafted by skilled artisans, requiring weeks to complete a single piece.

There are hundreds of species of trees in Bali and at least thirty-nine of them are used in woodcarving.

Up to the 1930s, it was highly formulaic and craftsmen tended to copy each other. Carvings consisted mainly of gods, heroes and demons. In the majority of cases they served a religious function, but they also decorated the royal palaces. They were not made for ordinary home decoration.

Modern styles arose to appeal to the tourists, who were beginning to come to Bali in the 1930s. As with painting, encouragement and suggestions came from Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet, who saw that tourism could create a source of income.

According to a report in the Indonesian language newspaper Kompas, in 2003 Gianyar recorded 14,368 woodcarving units employing a total of 37,150 workers.

The modern styles can be classified as:

• The elongated style
• The squat style
• The driftwood style

Walter Spies inspired the elongated style. The subject-matter is realistic and still very much alive. The elongated carvings are made of fine hardwood, sanded and finished without paint. They are polished to a fine sheen, very smooth and good to touch. The shapes are extremely fluid.

The first woodcarver to carve in this style was I Tegelan in the village of Belaluan. He had admirers in Mas, a village a little to the north: Ida Bagus Ketut Gelodog and Ida Bagus Nyana. Mas became the centre of the new style. Perhaps the best carver was I Nyoman Cokot of Jati, who died in 1971. He carved Hindu deities and demons.

Mid- 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).