8697

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    Balinese Two-Sided Carved Wooden Pillar Base (Sendi Tugeh)

    Bali, Indonesia
    19th century

    height: 22cm, width: 42cm, depth: 22cm, weight: 4,515g

    Sold

    Provenance

    UK art market

    – scroll down to see further images –

    This well carved wooden block from the the Hindu island of Bali in Indonesia would have served as a pillar base (sendi tugeh) probably at an entrance of an open-walled pavilion, most probably in a temple compound.

    Of much sculptural beauty, it has a tapering form. Both sides have been elaborately carved in high relief with monster heads known as karang bhoma. The figures have winged floral  headdresses, bulging eyes, fanged teeth, and expressive hands.

    The pillar base has been decorated with red and other polychrome colours.

    A square cavity runs through the centre of the support to allow the post to be inserted.

    See Ramseyer (1977, fig. 97 & 98) for related sendi tugeh with similar karang motifs.

    The example here has a superb patina consistent with considerable age.

    References

    Maxwell, R. et alBali: Island of the Gods, National Gallery of Australia, 2014.

    Ramseyer, U., The Art and Culture of Bali, Oxford University Press, 1977.

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