[BP524-b1]
Friday evening scenario
An exercise which was intended as a straightforward test for Google Image Search, but an exercise which rapidly spread out. Lots of mission creep.
Took snap of the table lamp in the study. Cropped it and fed it to Google Image Search.
He said the table lamp was probably made in Bali, probably featuring figures from Hindu mythology, specifically the Ramayana epic of reference 6. Lots of them about, mostly quite expensive.
Puzzled about Hindu mythology in Bali, I then went to Gemini, who knew all about this sort of thing and their background. A craft for tourists which peaked in the last two decades of the twentieth century; not an antique at all. And it seems that Google Image Search got it about right.
Various snaps in Screenshots. The transcript hopefully stored in Gemini. Who also supplied reference 1, which looks to confirm some of what he was telling me.
Form and provenance of the lamp
The openwork lamp appears to have been carved from a cylindrical blank, made of some heavy, hard, close-grained wood. It is hollow, with plenty of perforations in the shell and appears, without having examined it closely, to have been made from a single piece of wood, although it is possible that the top plug now covers a hole through which the rest of it was excavated. The bottom plug does not lend itself to insertion in the same way. I have not asked Gemini about that.
The wooden part of the lamp is around 16 inches high and a little less than 5 inches wide at the base.
The carving includes two large figures, one on each side, with the rest of the space taken up with stylised foliage. Foliage which becomes trees in more elaborate lamps. One of the figures of the present lamp is visible left in the snap above.
A guess at construction would be:
• Cut out the blank, possibly from a branch of a tree which is about the right size and shape. In which case, the centre line of the branch would be the centre line of the finished lamp
• Shape the blank
• Carve the surface of the blank, including what will become the perforations. This involves chisel and mallet and would, I think, need to be done before cutting out the insides
• Cut out the insides, somehow or other. No doubt Gemini would help, if asked
• Tidying up, smoothing, polishing and so forth.
A lot of the visual attraction of the lamp arises from its being hollow and appearing to have be cut from a single piece of wood. The sort of visual, tactile puzzle that I believe the Chinese are fond of.
All the images turned up by Google Image Search have very much the same shape: a top plug a good deal smaller than the bottom plug, the whole tapering bottom to top and something of a bulge to the lower half. Maybe the shell tapers too. All this serving to keep the centre of gravity down and the lamp reasonably stable, even when lamp holder, lamp and lamp shade are added on top.
The lamp was bought at what was called an antiques fair held in the main hall of Dorking Halls about twenty years ago, at which time I added a crossbar to the top of the lamp to provide a firm foundation for the lamp holder. Since then, apart from an occasional clean & polish, nothing has been done to it. It has survived the move to a centrally heated house.
I have certainly had my money’s worth from it.
Associations
This whole exercise might be likened to doing a cross word; something to busy the brain on. One might claim wider purpose such as getting to know about other cultures or developing skills which would be useful in other contexts. The sort of argument which might be advanced, for example, for learning Latin
There are plenty of essentially cylindrical wooden sculptures coming out of Africa. Often figures or heads, more or less stylised or fantastic
There is plenty of openwork stone carving in early Gothic cathedrals. Often animals or people, for example in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral. And then there is the elaborate window and ceiling tracery in late Gothic, for example in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey. And, as it happens, a stone pillar which is remarkably like the present lamp, in the crypt of a church in Bavaria. See BP524-d2.
Chinese puzzles of various sorts. The complicated wooden cubes and such which require trickery to take them apart. The wire rings, ditto. A modern, European example of the sort of thing I have in mind is to be found at BP524-e1.
In Leviticus we are told not to make graven images. A verse which Christians interpret narrowly, Moslems widely. With the result that our churches include lots of figurative carving, while Muslim churches which stick to the Meccan tradition do not; they do calligraphy instead.
The Gemini conversation of Friday evening
• Opening input: I have just shown Google Images a snap of hollow wooden table lamp. He seems pretty sure that it comes from Indonesia, probably Bali, probably carved with 'scenes from Hindu mythology, such as the Ramayana epic'. Why would souvenirs - there seem to be a lot of them about - from Bali feature carvings from Indian sources?
In the first half of the first millennium trade spread Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Sanskrit through what is now Indonesia, leading to the ‘Indianized’ kingdoms of Java and Bali. But in the 15th century, as Islam spread across Java, the Hindu-Buddhist nobility, artisans, and priests fled east to Bali. The Ramayana and Mahabharata epics became the foundational scripts for Balinese theatre – and woodcarving.
There was a boom in Balinese export art in the 1930s. Scenes from the Ramayana were popular, including, in particular, Rama.
The details of these carvings are distinctively Balinese rather than Indian.
• Input: The central figure is wearing something like shorts, an elaborate collar and headdress, this last possibly feathered. He has what looks like a snake up his middle and is carrying a large bow in his left hand. The other hand might be holding some kind of a box on his shoulder.
Based on those specific details—the bow, the "snake" up the middle, and the elaborate attire—you are likely looking at Prince Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, though with a very specific Balinese iconographic twist.
Gemini goes on to supply a lot of detail about this, getting arty at the finish:
Because your lamp is ‘hollow’, the artist likely used the Rama in the Forest motif. This allows them to carve through the wood to create negative space, using the trees and vines of the Dandaka forest to support the figure of Rama while allowing light to glow through.
Rama’s brother Laksama is distinguished by his demonic rather than serene face.
Gemini closes by offering to find a comparable image.
• Input: Serene, not demonic. Yes please.
This resulted in image BP524-a1 below, from a piece a good deal larger and more elaborate than my table lamp.
With more arty talk:
In Balinese belief, these carvings aren't just decorative; they are meant to bring the protective and virtuous energy of the hero into the home. Because it is a ‘hollow’ carving (known as kerawang), the light from within would emphasize the ‘forest’ setting, making the figure appear as if he is moving through the dappled sunlight of the ancient epics.
• Input: I don't have the elaborate vegetation, but the figures are very much what I have got. Dark brown rather than white - and a lot smaller. Table lamp size.
The dark brown finish and smaller, table-lamp scale are very characteristic of Balinese woodcarvings made from Suar wood (rain tree). This wood is favoured for souvenirs because its interlocking grain is resistant to cracking—a practical choice for items being transported to different climates—and it takes a dark wax or stain beautifully to highlight the fine details of the carving.
When these lamps are designed without the elaborate vegetation, they shift the focus entirely onto the Iconography of the Hero...
Wikipedia knows all about the rain tree at reference 8.
• Input: Thank you. Picked up in a collectible sale some 20 years ago.
Gemini picks up my throw away comment in his sometimes gushing style:
That's a lovely find from the early 2000s. If you bought it about 20 years ago, it likely dates back to the 1980s or 90s, a period when Balinese woodcarving was at a peak of technical refinement for the export market.
During that era, the villages of Mas and Tegallalang (near Ubud) were the hubs for these specific table lamps…
Tegallalung is to be found at -8.4103195,115.2065985 in gmaps.
• Input: t seems to have lasted pretty well without my doing anything to it so far, but maybe a bit of oiling or waxing would be a good idea?
The missing ‘I’ at the beginning of my input does not seem to have bothered Gemini. Who goes to give me lots of housekeeping tips. Perhaps to be passed on to BH.
• Closing input: No thank you. You have given me enough to be going on with!
What was intended to close the exchange, does not quite stop Gemini, who closes with a few more sentences.
Speculations
Perhaps in the late 20th century there was a good match between what Balinese woodcarvers wanted to charge and what tourists were prepared to pay – and the table lamp souvenir industry flourished. But as Indonesia developed and became richer this does not work so well?
Perhaps in pre-literate societies, there was a thirst for something, making elaborate carving of one sort or another popular. Hence its wide diffusion across the world. Ditto elaborate weaving and beadwork. Or knot work in the case of the Inkas, for which see reference 7.
On the other hand, how do people actually look at the stuff? I can see that the carvers are going to take a great interest and pride in their work, but what about the regular people attending Mass? Do they actually look at the elaborate capitals of the columns of Laon Cathedral, some of which are snapped below at BP524-d1? And then there is the column snapped at BP524-d2, from Bavaria, curiously like my table lamp. For which, see below.
In my own case, the brain seems to take an interest in and like the elaborate openwork texture of the lamp – but without taking in the content of the detail, in particular the figures, at a conscious level. At least not most of the time.
While in Westminster Abbey, there is plenty of elaborate carving outside on the roof which no-one but God is going to see once the scaffolding comes down.
The Gemini conversation of Sunday morning
• Opening input: Do you know how the insides are taken out? Do they cut a hatch out somewhere?
Three options: drill, soft-centre, split and glue.
Drill a cylindrical hole from the bottom up and work from there.
Pick a piece of timber with a soft core, which occurs naturally often enough,
Do the rough carving first, then saw the piece in half and scoop out the insides before glueing the halves back together again.
Gemini gives lots of details.
• Input: Given that that shell is quite thin, looking to be less than a centimetre thick, and the inside surface is very smooth, I go for the split and glue. When the light it better I shall look for a seam.
He goes on.
• Input: I had thought that one would need to do most of the carving before cutting out the insides. One needed their support to stop the wood splintering away where one did not want it to. Maybe not, after all.
He explains that one does it half and half; some before sawing, some after. He does not say, but I expect that quite a lot of the detailed carving is done on the two halves, before glueing back together again and finishing off. Which last is more like wood engraving than wood carving: smaller, very sharp tools and no mallet.
• Closing input: The wiring is my own, installed when I bought the lamp.
Didn’t stop him at all!
Some images
[BP524-b3. Zooming in to some of the detail. A bit dark in Word, but much better on the laptop]
[BP524-a1. From reference 1. A high resolution image]
[BP524-d1. From reference 2]
[BP524-d2. From reference 4, more fully described at reference 5]
[BP524-e1. A modern, Chinese style puzzle]
Conclusions
A two-day digression, with plenty to interest me, and perhaps others.
Very like a discussion with a very knowledgeable human, albeit a rather repetitive one who does not always pick up conversational clues. And one has to learn when it is best to check. And there are plenty of loose ends which I need to pick up on - for example, does this one really date from the 1980s or 1990s?
I am reminded of my mother’s assertion – this in the context of teaching – that one learns much more when one is able to bring something to the party. In this case, I think the discussion went much better because I already knew quite a lot about working with wood.
But what is doing to happen to diversity and evolution when we are all learning from the same teacher? I already fret about the uniformity that Microsoft’s Word’s blue underlining is pushing us into.
PS: taking a look underneath, I can’t see any sign of the lamp having been sawn in half, and I would have thought that it would show there. On the other hand, there is what looks like a woodworm hole. Perhaps the wood was too hard for the worms to get a hold on it, but I need to keep an eye on it.
Reference 1: https://www.lotussculpture.com/bali-wood-panel-sita-rama-sculpture.html.
Reference 2: The capitals of the Laon cathedral choir gallery – John James – 2012.
Reference 3: https://scififanletter.blogspot.com/2015/08/medieval-cathedrals-notre-dame-de-laon.html.
Reference 4: https://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/zgothic/1romanes/po-12c3/index.html.
Reference 5: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestiens%C3%A4ule. The translation, possibly offered by Edge, did pretty well. These pillars are quite rare and this one is in the crypt of a church in Bavaria.
Reference 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana.
Reference 7: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/02/do-khipus-of-inkas-amount-to-writing.html.
Reference 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanea_saman.
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