Woman with Mirror

dimensions: 25x24x4 cm
weight: 480 gr
signed by Ketut Raja, Ubud, Bali

This is my second panel from master carver Ketut Raja. It shows a woman holding a mirror in front of her. This motif can often be found as a statue, so I'm all the happier to have gotten a panel of it here.

In my opinion, the carving is very well done and simply beautiful. The photo does not reveal that there is a large gap between the woman and the background. This creates a particularly three-dimensional impression.
When I got the carving it was very dusty and dirty. After thorough cleaning and oiling, Cinderella became a real princess, so to speak. The difference from before to after was enormous.

Ketut Raja passed away a few years ago, I was informed of this in 2022 by another known carver. It seems that no one is continuing Ketut Raja's work, so it is sad that there are fewer and fewer traditional master carvers in Bali.

I have named the woman depicted Julia, although I do not usually name my carvings. The real Julia is a friend from Wales, UK and she has a statue named after me, you can see it's photo below. Funny, isn't it? We chat a lot about Balinese carvings and over time we developed a lovely chat friendship. It is very helpful and important to have support for a hobby and thanks to the internet you can make friends all over the world. Therefore I dedicate this page as a thank you to Julia.

Here's Henry II. He's at least forty years older than me but still in good shape for his age...  If you look closely, you'll see a statue of the original 1930s Balinese Art Deco style.