Balinese Penasar Mask antique carved wood and hair

Description

Antique Balinese half mask of carved and painted wood, with moustache and eyebrows of hide on which a few hairs remain.  The simple style, painted wrinkles and few teeth (a second tooth has broken off) suggest the mask may have represented a theatrical character of an elderly peasant.  An interesting feature, though partly concealed by the moustache, is the shape of the upper lip, which seems to indicate a cleft palate or "hare-lip."  The masked dances or
topeng
are performed by non-speaking dancers accompanied by spoken narration; the narrators wear this type of
penasar
, or half-mask, in order to speak, while the dancers wear full-face masks.  The rich storytelling typically touches on many aspects of the human condition in a combination of tragedy and comedy, mythology and local gossip, ugly caricature and elegant beauty.