SACRED RANGDA MASK (Queen of the Witches) 140 x 50cm

Pule wood, gilded and tooled leather, gold-gilded silver ornamentation with glass beads, cut mirror glass, cotton wool and cloth, human, goat and horsehair, gold leaf and natural pigments/ground bone.

Rangda is the Queen of the Witches and the fearsome blood-curdling and corpse-eating embodiment of evil. Her counterpart is the mythical Barong, a powerful supernatural creature that functions as a magical and protective spirit. Together they represent the forces of good and evil, of white magic and black, and they battle for dominance in Balinese rituals and sacred ceremonies. Both command great respect.  We have 2 Rangda masks and 3 Barong masks in our collection.

Balinese masks are like lightening rods…they attract and channel the energy of the characters they portray. It therefore follows that Rangda masks are potentially dangerous objects, and there are very few Balinese who feel they possess sufficient physical and spiritual strength to wear one without risk to life and limb.

This is by far the most spectacular mask in our collection, and also my personal favourite. It is quite possibly the finest example of a sacred Rangda mask outside of Indonesia, and equal to the very best in Bali itself. It was commissioned and made to order for us by the renowned mask carver Wayan Tangguh in 1994, when he was already in his mid 60s. We wanted an authentic Rangda mask of the finest quality possible. No expense was to be spared in its making and we were prepared to wait as long as necessary, and in the event it took best part of a year to complete. The long strands of plaited goats hair alone represents several months work as only 3 or 4 strands can be made in a day! We are very privileged to have this wonderful mask in our collection.

Balinese Mask Collection

Having retired and downsized our home we no-longer have sufficient display space to do justice to our amazing private collection of Balinese sacred, ceremonial and dance/drama masks, and have therefore reluctantly decided to sell the collection in its entirety.

We began collecting Balinese masks in the mid 1980s – seeking out the finest carvers on the island and commissioning them to make sacred, ceremonial and dance/drama masks for us.  Some masks can take many months to complete and it is extremely rare for classical Topeng, Wayang Wong, and sacred masks such as Barong and Rangda to be made for non-Balinese…so we are very privileged to have gained the trust and respect of these renowned carvers. Our masks were collected and commissioned during the course of 40 or so trips to the island to study its art and culture, and also for business.  We believe our collection ranks among the best in the world. We are not prepared to split the collection or sell individual pieces.

Please contact us here for price and further particulars.  Fred and Maureen Wilkinson