Java Wayang Kulit (Puppet, Puppe) Gunungan (125r) Start Price USD 49.00 Current Price USD 53.70 Time Left - Bid Count 2 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, July 01, 2008 End Time Tuesday, July 08, 2008 Location Yogyakarta, Central Java See more about 'Java Wayang Kulit (Puppet, Puppe) Gunungan (125r)' Description Wahdaniyat70 Art and Antiques Javanese Performance Wayang Kulit ddddcccc Gunungan ddddcccc From Yogyakarta, Central Java, ca 1910 Wayang Kulit is a very old art form dating back over 1000 years. Typically the plays will start about 9 at night and last through until early in the morning (about 4 or 5 o'clock). These shadow puppet plays (there are well over two hundred different plays) contain the elements of the Ramayana and Mahabharata from India but have been made uniquely Javanese. These are the stories of gods and men, myth and morals. In a common set, used for everyday performances, throughout the villages and cities, there are about 120 wayang in a set but in the sets that were used in the palaces and reserved for special occasions there have been documented well over 400 in a set. This number also varies considerably as dalang were also known to create their own characters primarily for intermission entertainment or for special performances, the characters in the plays themselves are all set by tradition in both the characters stories as well as their size, carving and painting. For a given performance, a dalang will sit in a center stage (usually elevated now) in front of a white cloth screen and illuminated only by a single oil lamp above the stage and dalang. To his left and right will be his puppets for that performance, their support sticks stuck in banana tree trunks to keep them ready for his use. He will typically have two assistants to help him with the wayang sitting to his left and right. Accompanying him are several female singers and a gamelan orchestra. The carving and painting throughout the puppet are beautiful. They were subject to not only handling but many would also have to endure the mock battles in the wayang kulit plays. Because these wayang were used in performances, dalang would continually maintain these puppets for both the leather and paint. dddd Character cccc This character is a Gunungan This wayang Kulit (shadow Puppet) is a Gunungan or Tree of Life (Kekayon in Javanese). The Gunungan, in general, is used to announce the start of the wayang plays (lakons). It is also used to show intermissions and scene changes as well as indicate the end of the play. The gunungan is composed of two major parts, upper and lower, which correspond to the upper and netherworlds with the tree serving as the link between both worlds. In Indic terms the tree is the nagasari tree which is also seen on the Hindu-Buddist monuments of the eight and ninth ceturies around Surakarta and Yogyakarta. The various animals represent the opposing good and evil forces. I truly enjoy offering these pieces for auction as I believe that a gunungan, better than any other wayang, shows the skills and ingenuity of the dalangs. In a typical Gunungan the bottom portion depicts a Palace guarded by two giants on either side of the entrance. For this gunungan however the palace is replaced by a repeated face of Banaspati and the two guards are replaced by monkeys (maybe lemurs?). dddd Condition cccc This wayang is beautifully carved and painted. The condition is very good. There is significant wear to the paints. The carved leather is in excellent condition. The support stick is water buffalo horn (it is joined at the middle of the puppet). The size is 98 cm high including the support stick, without the support stick it's 77 cm by 47 cm wide. dd Shipping/Payment cc The shipping cost is $60.00 to the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and $72.00 to Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain). Please email me for exact shipping charges elsewhere. I only charge actual shipping costs and do not charge for packing or packing materials. Insurance cost is 3.5% of the shipping amount in excess of $100. I also will combine auctions for savings on shipping (I recommend combining shipping on like items such as golek with golek but not with a mix of items such as Golek with Kulit or Keris as these type of shipments could damage one another and the shapes are very different. I can combine batik or coins with any type of shipment. Any savings in combined shipping are passed directly back to the purchaser). I accept PayPal and wire transfers (any fees incurred in obtaining the wire transfer are the responsibility of the winning bidder). dddd Guarantee cccc I guarantee the authenticity of every item that I sell as well as your complete satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, simply return the item and I will refund your purchase price (less shipping unless the item is not as I described in the auction. In that event I will also refund shipping costs). dddd cccc My EBay Store For a greater and varied selection (which don't appear in my auctions), please visit my store by clicking on the photo of Malioboro Street below (our very famous shopping street for all types of handicraft). 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