W140xD80xH150mm, Indonesia
With the nasal mucus dripping down, it mask can only belongs to the clown of the mask dance, the bondres. The half mask enable them to tell jokes and engaged in comical dialogues.
Bondres Dukuh is the advisor to King Raja, in the dance he also is the means to broadcast the king’s commands. As a comic Bondres Dukuh is a lame spiritual leader, a bit deaf and blind, his speech are filled with coughs and jokes about betel nut.
W140xD80xH190mm, Indonesia
Topeng Tua is an old man character who appears at the opening of the performance as well as in religious ceremony Tari Topeng Tua which would be performed in the temple piodalan. Other character would aslo include topeng Keras, topeng Dalem, topeng Penasar.
Click here to see our other topeng.
W145xH210mm, Indonesia
This is a mask of Jinggananom, a rebellious fighter in the masked dance of Topeng Cirebon, the masked dance of West Java.
The Cirebon masked dance describes the disposition of human life;
Panji Dance (the perfect human, fair, wise and doing good deeds),
Samba Dance (procession, lust and glamour)
Tumenggung Dance (a warrior’s loyality, heroism and dedication)
Rumyang Dance
Kelana Dance (greeds and ambition)
Two touching documentary tributed to the late maestro Mimi Rasinah.
H250xW150xD50mm, Indonesia
This is one of the topengs which appear in the introductory of the performance, they are archetype of the character in the show. In the solo act, the dancer will perform pure dance to show off their dancing skill. This particular mask is that of the Dalem, the handsome king who is intelligent, noble and strong, an ideal ruler. The actual performance will begin with the entrance of the king’s servants who wear a half mask as the narrator of the show. The dalem then re-enter and tackle the political or religious problems of his kingdom.
W250xD100xH180, Indonesia
This Balinese mask is of the character Merdah, the son of Tualen, both son and father are the servants of Rama. Merdah lacks the wisdom and apathy of his father but he is eager and honest, a joyful character. Tualen and Merdah portray the good while Sangut and Delem the evil counterparts. Merdah is the Penasar clown in the Wayang Wong performance Ramayana, his function is to narrate the stories to the audience.
W140xH170mm, Indonesia
This is a mask used for the Kecak trance dance in Bali, it is also know as the monkey chant. The chant is performed by 150 men during which the Ramayana epic will be performed by masked dances. In the Ramayana legend, the monkey king Vanara helped Rama to save his wife Sita from the demon Ravana.
For our other monkey mask, check out previous entry:
Monkey Topeng, Korean Monkey Mask, Monkey Mask.
L160xW160mm, Indonesia
This is the topeng mask for the character Tembem, a friend of Penthul. Tembem and Penthul are characters used in the traditional Javanese dancing depicting warriors practising their fighting skills. Their are a pair of comics, Penthul with a white face supports the warriors for them to keep a strong spirit. Tembem, on the other hand, is the sad figure. On his black face with the white painted tears on his eyes and nose, the crying Tembem represents the supporters who lost the fight.
W140xH180mm, Indonesia
This is a Balinese topeng for the masked dance. Bondre Bues is a comical character who loved drinking, with a blurry speech and a drinken mind, he loved to pick on fights. This when not drinking, this rowdy bully practices martial art and looking for the next drink. Sounds familiar?
W150xH200mm, Indonesia
This is the Java mask for the Ramayana epic character Sugriwa , the king of the monkeys. The monkey kingdomm Kishkindha was ruled by Bali, Sugriwa’s brother, one day a demon came to challenge a fight with Bali. Seeing blood from the demon’s mouth and that Bali not returning, Sugriwa thought his brother has died and took over the kingdom. Bali however returned unharmed and suspected Sugriwa has betrayed him, took Sugriwa’s wife Tara and banished him from the kingdom. During his exile, Sugriwa made friends with Rama whose wife Sita was captured by the demon Rakshasas. Sugriwa and Rama made a deal to help each other, Sugriwa to take revenge of Bali and Rama to save his wife. Sugriwa challenged Bali and a fight started, midway Sugriwa’s counsellor Hanuman to place Garland of flower around Sugriwa’s neck. Rama took the chance and shoot Bali at the heart. After Bali’s death, Sugriwa took over the kingdom and forgot about the promise with Rama. Rama’s brother Lakshmana was upset and was planned to destroy the monkey kingdom and to kill Sugriwa. Luckily Tara reconciled Rama and Sugriwa. Hanuman found out the location of Sita and with joint forces Sita was free.
L150xW130mm, Indonesia
This is a Topeng use for masked dances in Indonesia. This mask would have been worn by the Bondres character , a joker to bring in the humorous elements in the performance. Despite the ugly facial expression, the Bondres are popular character because of the bawdy jokes and satires that poke fun at the current events. The jawless mask was made so for the actor to be able to speak clearly. Each dancer would have his own collection and there are many different of these clown character. The eye brow and moustache are made with goat hair.
Mountain Folkcraft 