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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
No, not Jawa Rick, they don't do these things, its Bali, but souvenir quality, the wood is quite light, which means it will be soft. I've got a shorter one of the same style that weighs 6kg. It probably dates from the 1980-1990 period.
Don't know who it is. Probably impossible to tell. Balinese carvers, especially when doing souvenir work tend to carve to a category of character rather than to an individual character. This bloke has got certain attributes that the more inquisitive amongst us might care to research, such as the snake around the neck, the unusually dark skin, the hair style, but in my experience this is probably a waste of time, because these attributes are very likely to be mix and match stuff. Carvings like this are done for visitors to take home without being too far into excess baggage debt, they are not done to exacting requirements of religion or wayang.
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Most of this collection seems to have been put together around WW2 and the next few decades. There were many pieces that date to the 1940s which were clearly bought 'new' and still look 'new' now.
He seemed to have a wide interest, buying some of the pieces 'brand new', some old and some already antique when collected.
I'm not sure when his collecting stopped but I'd guess around the end of the 70s (From the little I know of the source and the examination of parts of the collection) So I would say that beyond 1980 would be unusually late in context, but anything's possible of course.
These come directly from the original collectors family with his descriptions where possible. This one was described as being: 'Indonesia C.1920'
I personally thought that was rather hopeful
and 'guessed' that it was more likely 1960s-70s.
Amazing how even a few decades makes a world of difference in the effort on these pieces. The quality of this one is actually rather good compared with many of the 'new' ones being offered, and yet compared with earlier ones it looks simple and nieve.
Tunggulametung's attribution of Bhima seems reasonable, he certainly looks like Bhima.
Nice large base with corresponding sturdy balance and low centre of gravity.