Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Any Jewelry, post: 4542286, member: 2844&quot;]I&#039;ve been overthinking it too much, and limited reading skills don&#039;t help either. So after an attempt at a re-read, I came across [USER=8267]@2manybooks[/USER] reply, and after checking every Hanuman in the house (why didn&#039;t I do that before?<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie19" alt=":banghead:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />) I too think it could be Hanuman.</p><p>Of my five Balinese Hanumans, two are without proper nostrils, the others have complete noses.</p><p>A complete mask would have painted and/or gilded leather on the sides. In this case, because it only has rudimentary ears, the full Hanuman ears would probably be attached to the leather.</p><p><br /></p><p>As far as age, it is difficult to find antique masks for sale. There are some in Dutch and Indonesian collections. There are also very old temple masks that are regularly re-painted and re-gilded, so they don&#039;t show any age.</p><p>&#039;Antiqueing&#039; of Sundanese Wayang puppets began in the early 1950s, and I assume Bali followed soon after.</p><p><br /></p><p>Personally I don&#039;t think a Javanese, Madurese or Balinese mask needs to be antique. It is the esthetics, the artistry and the symbolism that counts. For those reasons I would have bought this mask, if I had come across it. It is so much better than so many Indonesian masks offered for sale, and I love that elegant curving of the &#039;lips&#039;.</p><p>I would give it a clean though. A lot of what looks like aging, is actually gunk.</p><p>A mask has to &#039;speak&#039; to me. Recently I bid on a stunning, recently made, Balinese mask, but didn&#039;t win it. Bidding went through the roof, and rightly so.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in