animals

Yudi Suardi's delicate sculpture makes a delightful piece of home decor. The Balinese artisan starts by hand blowing a goblet from molten glass, placing his creation on top of a benalu wood base with a naturally flat bottom. To the side, a jempinis wood hummingbird uses his long, needle-like beak to take a sip from a blooming flower.

Sinuous stripes evoke the coat of the harimau, or Indonesian tiger. Contrasting natural textures with burnished surfaces, this beautiful decorative vase is crafted by hand. Women potters from the Lombok Pottery Center work in terracotta to create their design.

Graceful goldfish swim through the warm lakes of Bali. By Sarwaedi, this elegant vase is designed to look like a prized antique. He lathes mahogany wood, carving fine details and adding the rich colors by hand. Gilt enhances its beauty.

This masterfully carved decorative vase from Sarwaedi of Bali was inspired by the Javanese legend of Naga Baru Klinting. The subtle application of paint and gilded accents give the vase the appearance of a treasured antique.

According to the legend, Baru Klinting was a dragon who promised a sage that he could circle the whole Merapi Volcano in Central Java to prove that he was the sage's son, but failed to do so. The dragon used his tongue instead, which enraged the sage, and the sage swung a sword to cut his tongue. The dragon fell to the earth. Then people living near the volcano cut up the dragon's body and took it home to make a feast. Suddenly, a midget appeared and put a stick in the earth, and said that he would take all of the dragon's meat if no one was capable of removing the stick. People tried because they didn't want to lose their chance for a feast, but none were able to do it. The midget then removed the stick from the ground, and suddenly in that spot water started to flood the whole village, turning the village into a spring that is present to this day. Later on, another sage revealed that the midget was the soul of the dragon, enraged with the people that tried to eat his body.

Masterfully hand-carved by Balinese artisan Sarwaedi, this decorative mahogany vase depicts the mythical Javanese creature Anantaboga. Ancient legend maintains that when Bali was created, the dragon god Anantaboga entered the bottom layer of the earth and thus became the support of the island. The artisan gives the vase an antiqued look with the application of paints in brown, black, green and gold.

Mischievous as ever, a frog sneaks a peak from under the frangipani leaves that shape this ceramic vase. Putu Oka Mahendra's whimsical approach to his art results in an endearing and elegant design.