Antique carved wooden Naga ritual lontar box, Bali, Indonesia, c. 1920-40

Description

This carved, wooden ritual storage or offering box (
pratima
, sometimes spelled as
pretima
) is rare and of extremely fine quality.
Since the 19th century, Balinese priests have conserved their knowledge on dried leaves from the lontar tree.  Information about medicine and the Adat (book of customary law) were written on lontars.  Valuable and important lontar manuscripts were preserved for future generations in lontar boxes such as this one.  Some are painted with scenes from the Ramayana story, others are made of fine woodcarving.
This box - with a sliding, intricately carved lid - is unique and rare in its form.
The box measures approximately 24 inches (long) x 17 inches (high) x 4 1/2 inches (wide).  It is exceptionally well carved, with strong features.  The head is in the form of the Balinese mythical serpent/snake (
Naga
), particularly dynamic and vigorous in its rendering.
As previously mentioned, boxes like this one were traditionally used for storage of religious palm leaf manuscripts (
lontar
) and, possibly in other instances, items that were to be taken to the temple or to ceremonies to serve as offerings.  Such items were kept in the cavity in the
Naga’s
back.
This piece has a well-encrusted patina. The entire base and lid carvings are original and intact.  The tail appears to be a later replacement, though I am not sure about that, as the carving quality of the serpent-like scales on the tail perfectly matches the rest of the piece.  There is a superficial, stable horizontal crack on the left side of the Naga's head/neck and one on the right side of the lid along the scaled body of the Naga.  There are also a few minor chips to some of the tips of the Naga's feathers on the lid.  All cracks and chips are old and weathered, as one would expect from such an old carving.
Importantly for an item of Balinese carved wood sculpture, the item is old (pre-war) and visibly so. The dealer I bought it from estimates it dates to c. 1920-40
.
I purchased this beautiful piece from noted Netherlands antique dealer Ton Boutellier, who specializes in rare Balinese works of art from the early 1900s.  The last photo is of a somewhat similar lontar box in a museum collection in the Netherlands.