WOODCARVINGS from Bali have gone into thousands of tourist suitcases since the 1930s when the present souvenir-style carving began. Before that just about all carved wood was for use-as doors, pillars, bed-ends, stands for gamelan instruments, masks, kris handles-or for religious ritual. Much carving was ornament some of it nearly as curly and convoluted as the Chinese. Nearly all of it was painted or gilded. (Natural wood is "new".) Apart from the radja there weren't many rich it.) buy this kind of carving. So there were not many carvers. With the wealth of the nobility diminished first by the Dutch and then by the Indonesian government, there would be few carvers today in Bali if it were not for the tourist-souvenir and foreign-export markets.

Now there are a great many wood carvers, a hundred of them in one village, Mas. This has conic of carving figurines. such as elongated young women. nicely breasted: very old men also ittenuated, and so deeply wrinkled that people exclaim over the craftsmanship of carving so much expression of age into the faces; and the boy on the water buffalo. It would be unfair to say, that there are no Balinese objects-, d'art on offer more imaginative than these popular pieces; and it must be acknowledged that the craftsmanship is good the finish meticulous. ahd the polished wood attractive-the teak the blond jack wood. the beautiful dark red sawo. coconut-wood with its curious texture, .and ebony imported from the Celebes. But I did not buy anything.

Please access this web site for more Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and all Indonesia Hotels bali-lombok-yogyakarta-jakarta-hotels.com - and Indonesian Holidays Information, hotels and travel reservation indonesia-hotels-travel-holidays.com