A Collection of Javanese and Madurese Masks

In Indonesia, ritual masks were mostly carved by high-caste family members specialized in this craft and familiar with the apropriate rituals involved, such as finding the right tree imbued with certain powers and asking its permission to be cut. Older wooden masks were mostly carved from harder wood such as 'pule' or 'kepuh' . An especially fine mask was coated with dozens of layers of paint using natural pigments, bone powder, fish glue medium and sometimes early European synthetic colors. Human hair, horse hair or the crude black fibres of palms are used for less refined and thus hirsute characters. The antique masks in this group are mainly from the island of Java and Madura. They are all 60 to 100 years old and in fair condition. None is a reproduction.
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