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• Auction House:
  Theodore Bruce
• Sale Name:
  Timed Online Auction | Tribal & Oceanic Art
• Sale Date:
  17 Oct 2022 ~ 6pm (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  9036
• Lot Description:
  Balinese Painted Calendar
  This is a traditional Balinese calendar painted on cotton cloth.
  85 x 80 cm
• Notes:
  The Indonesian island of Bali has a rich and unique culture based on the Hindu religion in what is otherwise a largely Muslim country. One of the unique features of Balinese culture is the way they distinguish the days, weeks and months of the year. Bali has its own calendar system, or rather two of them. The saka calendar is based on the lunar cycles and is similar to the Gregorian calendar that we use. The pawukon calendar on the other hand, which this painted cloth illustrates, is said to originate from the rice growing cycles in Bali and is quite difficult for non-Balinese to understand. It is used to find auspicious days on which to undertake important activities, such as weddings, doctor's visits, planting rice, starting to build a new house or beginning a journey, but also for smaller things like getting a haircut, or making a new fence. In order to find out which days are auspicious for these activities, the Balinese will go to a special priest who is able to read the calendar and to tell when it is a good day for any of these activities. This calendar is hand painted on cotton cloth in what is known as the Kamasan style. The village of Kamasan in east Bali was the centre for traditional Balinese painting. This unique style of painting was Bali's only form of pictorial representation until the 20th century when Western artists began arriving in central Bali and influenced artists to paint realistic scenes of everyday life. Both styles still exist.The cloth is painted with a grid of 49 squares arranged in seven columns and seven rows. The squares in the top row contains images of the gods, spirits, animals and symbols particular to each day, while the bottom row shows the animal and demonic figures associated with each day. The five horizontal rows in between represent the days of the five-day week. There are seven squares in each row making a total of 35 days in each month. One pawukon year consists of 6 months of 35 days each, making a total of 210 days in the year.
• Estimate:
  A$150 - 250
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Tribal

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.