Balinese Images of Dewi Sri

Matched Pair of Polychrome & Gilt Dewi Sri Rice Goddess Images

This rare matched pair of Dewi Sri figures is of carved wood decorated with red, black and gilt polychrome. They are almost, or were intended to be, the mirror images of one another.

In Bali (and Java) the rice goddess is known as Dewi Sri. The name is taken from Sri Dewi, the Indian Hindu goddess who is the consort of Vishnu, and who is the goddess of prosperity, fertility and wealth. In Indonesia, Dewi Sri is accorded much power which extends from the all-important rice fields to the underworld.

Balinese depictions of Dewi Sri show the goddess as young, beautiful, and slim but curvaceous. She tends to wear a dance costume, an elaborate headdress and has facial features that represent the Balinese conception of femininity.

Images of Dewi Sri are used in the many small temples dedicated to her that abound.

This pair has excellent patina. A nineteenth century dating seems entirely reasonable. Remnants of an inscription in Balinese in red pigment are visible on the reverse of one of the images.

The pair was acquired by a British diplomat who served in Indonesia during the 1960s. The images had clear age then. The pair have been in the same collection since.

Reichle, N. (ed.), Bali: Art, Ritual & Performance, Asian Art Museum, 2010.

UK private collection