PRAYING WOMAN.This delicately sculpted crocodile wood statue of a woman, praying with a lotus bud between her fingers, can be displayed in three positions, as shown above. Created by master carver Wayan Pande Ardana, in the woodcarving village of Mas in Bali, the dimensions are 8 inches long X 3 ½ inches high X 1 5/8 inches deep.
This impressionist style of carving began in the 1930's, under the influence of Miguel Covarrubias, the Chilean artist, who visited Bali during that time. The favored wood for this style is crocodile wood (from Panggal Buaya, in Balinese, meaning crocodile teeth). Crocodile wood is known as the 'ivory of woods ' because of its similar color. Like ivory, this wood will darken with age from white to a creamy custard color.
