Masks

An Indonesian dancer wears a mask over his face not to masquerade, change, or cover up his identity but to become a living manifestation of the being that his mask represents.The mask-makers traditionally come from high cast families who are familiar with the age old rituals and mask carvers codes of practice.To make powerful and sacred masks a special ceremony is performed to seek permission from a selected tree to cut its wood - A very fine mask receives numerous coats of paint in the form of natural pigments in a gelatin base. We have collected fine old masks all over the archipelago over the last 40 years. We also work with the few mask making masters left in Indonesia and have accumulated a refined collection of rare and valuable masks.