Featured SE Asia Carved Wood Female Bust: Is This Tourist Art?

This is the first of several pieces owned by an old friend, who is nearing her end an' wishes to know what specifics I can glean from y'all about them. Her son gets first choice on all her things, but she admits willingness to donate to GW etc. anything unworthy of serious consideration. I have offered to photograph a few of them for presentation here, an' cautioned that this forum doesn't do 'value' estimates but will be able to sort keepers from the dross.
The bust is 11 3/4" high, 5 3/4" wide at the shoulders, 2 5/16" thick at the base; it weighs ~18 ounces.
Her eyes are without pupil or other feature. There is a small carved impression immediately below her lower lip, of unknown significance. Large earplugs appear to be supportive of the head dress, along with the headband an' rosette shown in pic 5. Upper body adornment includes the collar or drape that extends to her shoulders, as well as the overlying neckpiece.
How old is the bust, roughly...early 20th C, or? Is there a story associated with this woman in ceremonial attire?
I'll be grateful for whatever help you can offer, an' thanks for lookin'!

 

A nice Balinese dancer. @Any Jewelry can tell you more about her.

 

I seem to remember seeing some like these that said they were from the 30's. She is lovely.

 

yup, for tourists.....I have one....& we have threads here discussing them..

 

Here is a thread @Any Jewelry started a few years back.

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/bali-art-deco-thread.30201/

 

She is a very beautiful carving of a female Djanger (Janger) dancer. Great quality. Style and period are Bali Art Deco.
She is art, and much better quality than what is referred to as "tourist art".

No significance at all, some people have a dimple there. The sitter probably did too.

It would be very painful to have your earplugs supporting a headdress. So no support, the plugs and the dance crown are separate. You can see the side locks of her hair in between the plugs and the crown, so the plugs and the crown don't even touch.
The dance crown is held in position by the ribbon at the back.
The rosette is actually a flower. Balinese women and girls often wear fresh flowers in their hair.

!930s-40s, probably a bit later in the period.

She is a Djanger dancer. Djanger (janger) means something like infatuation.
The Djanger dance is a village dance for young people. It was inspired by a Malaysian dance group that toured Indonesia in the 1930s.
The girls sit in a row on the ground, and the boys sit in a row opposite the girls. The dance consists of arm and body movements, while they are all seated. In old photos you see the kids laughing and flirting with each other.

She is not in ceremonial attire, Djanger was never a ceremony or sacred dance. It was just a lot of fun for young village people, especially at harvest time, after working in the fields all day.
The dance was only fashionable for a few years, but it was revived in the late 20th century for tourism.

 

A note on "tourist art".
Balinese art has been sold worldwide for a century or more.

The background:
In the early years of the 20th century all of Bali was colonised by the Dutch. The Dutch had already colonised part of the Balinese coast to prevent slave raids by the Balinese, as well as the capture and looting of foreign ships and murder of foreign seamen along the Balinese coast.
The last conquest (also a result of capture of foreign ships in spite of an agreement) led to mass ritual suicides in some of the Balinese courts, because the Balinese royals swore they would never be colonised. Some of them walked into the bayonets of the Dutch soldiers, who were shocked and let it happen. The shock probably didn't last long, because they proceeded to loot the corpses and the palaces.
The situation caused an uproar in the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands, and the rest of the world.

As a result, the Dutch government decided to give Bali financial support and preferential treatment in the colonial "Ethical Politics" program.
The Ethical Politics program supported and financed education and 'advancement' of the population, as well as supporting local arts and crafts throughout the Dutch East Indies.

When it was finally safe to travel to Bali, tourists started to visit, because Bali is very beautiful. The first tourists were colonials from Java, but slowly more visitors came.
Around the same time, artists from all over the globe went to Bali, which was regarded as an island inhabited by "people who lived like the beginning of creation". These artists were inspired by Bali, and in turn inspired Balinese craftspeople.
The Balinese Art Deco grew from this inspiration, but it was a Balinese initiative. It was the first time Balinese carvers moved away from religious and ceremonial art, and carved everyday subjects.
More about Bali Art Deco in the thread Peggy linked.

Balinese art was sold in the Dutch East Indies, and it is still sold throughout Indonesia.
The Dutch colonial government made sure Balinese art was exported worldwide, to improve the financial situation of the island. It also created a few myths about the origins of Bali and its artistry, as sales promotion.

Btw, the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno (part Balinese), had an important collection of Balinese art, which is still on exhibit. Needless to say, Sukarno was not a tourist, nor were/are the other owners of Balinese art in Indonesia.

 

Thank you most sincerely, AJ...
I read that linked thread, all 9 pages of it.
I'm amazed, of course, at not only the profound depth of your understanding about this subject but your willingness to share it, in such detail, with pics, and at great length!
You are quite unique, in my experience of the antique world an' its peripherals...truly a Global Jewel!
For myself, and friend Anne...deep gratitude!

 

Wonderfully informative, Peggy...Thanks!

 

Your friend should be able to get a good price for her.
Overhere they sell for about 125 euro and over, which means that she should be able to get much more for her in the US.

 

I see prices from under 100 to over 1000........
& I'll wager not one of the sellers has AJ's knowledge...

 

I don't think many of these realistic style busts go under 100. The lesser quality ones yes, but not this realistic style and artistic quality.

 

I don't think many sell for 1000 either.....

 

I'm pretty sure they don't.