This striking mask from the island of Bali in Indonesia is now on offer at our downtown store. It is hand-painted, hand-carved, woven, and sewn of sandalwood, bamboo, cloth and horsehair. If you’re terrified just looking at her, you are not wrong – this is Rangda, the Demon Queen!
Or, more specifically, this is the traditional Rangda mask that elaborately costumed Balinese dancers wear when acting out a great battle between good and evil. A cloth-covered, bamboo hat understructure secures the mask to the dancer’s head, allowing for dramatic moves, while internal hinges made of rubber straps let the terrifying jaws gape and snap! More elaborate versions of the mask brandish yard-long cloth tongues studded with brass encrusted mirrors. More mirrored jewelry decorates her costume and she executes her menacing gestures with 8-inch long, razor-sharp fingernails. Her special clothing also indicates her divine status because even though she is the wicked leader of the evil Leak people, she is still due respect.
Indonesia is the world’s largest island archipelago and a multicultural country, home to many religions; the many-layered story of Rangda incorporates elements from Hinduism, the animistic religions that pre-dated it, and ancient Indonesian history. Like the wicked witches of European folklore, Rangda is an old crone who steals children – statues often show her wielding a baby-catching sling and clutching an innocent toddler. Her story also incorporates the legend of Calon Arang, a 10th century Javanese witch of whom Rangda is believed to be an incarnation. Once widowed (Rangda means ‘widow’ in old Javanese) she learns black magic, striking such fear into her neighbors that no man is willing to marry her daughter. Offended, Rangda then takes revenge by kidnapping village girls and sacrificing them to Durga, a Hindu goddess of both protection, strength, and motherhood, AND of destruction and war. The resulting floods and disease devastate those who rejected her and her beautiful daughter.
But such revenge-taking does not go unanswered and King Airlangga sends soldiers to fight her. They are outmatched. Fortunately, another entity enters the fray: Barong! Barong is described as being like unto a tiger, a lion, a dog, a wild boar or a bear (Beruang means ‘bear’) and indeed, he can be all of the above because he is a shape-shifter. A guardian of the forest, Barong is also animated by the spirit of Banas Pati Raja, a guardian angel of children, so Barong arrives at these ceremonial dance battles to protect kids and humanity in general. Although the masks of Barong also sport bulging eyes and fearsome teeth, he has a warm red face and his costume is soft white fur, draped in brass jewelry set with mirrors. And because our protector manifests as a four-legged animal, in many performances he is portrayed by two dancers working together. He may also be accompanied by two monkeys! In the intense drama, Rangda casts a spell on the hapless soldiers ordering them all to commit suicide, but Barong intervenes just in time. In some performances, a priest also sprinkles participants with holy water. You will be glad to hear that good always defeats evil here, at least until next year when the fight must be fought again.
You may think the extravagant tusks on these masks are pure imagination, but no. They are modeled after the Babirusas, a large native wild pig. The males have huge, upcurved tusks, can run at 30 miles an hour, and swim from island to island so it’s not surprising one of Barong’s avatars is this wild, wild boar. We don’t currently have a Balinese Barong mask for sale at QBO, but hopefully one will show up just in time to save the day! See you soon.
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!