WAYANG KULIT
on IndoArtNet

Wayang Kulit is probably the most famous and imaginative form of Indonesian Wayang. Finely carved and painted thin leather puppets move behind a white linnen screen, such that the audience on the other side of the screen sees the shadows only.

Kulit means leather. Thick and specifically treated Water Buffalo leather is manually cut out, engraved, ciseled with amazing detail and finally hand-painted. Movable limbs are joined with leather bolts and even the handles are made from the long horns of the same Water Buffaloes.

We have the pleasure of displaying here a very exquisite collection of Wayang Kulit puppets on sale from a private collector. You may click on each picture to see more details of the craftsmanship. We are proud to be the exclusive merchant representing this set of almost 100 puppets. We show a small selection below, please enquire for more pictures and descriptions.

Unlike the many soulless, machine-cut and screen-printed Kulits from low-grade leather to be found on the souvenir market, we at IndoArtNet only sell the best available quality of material and workmanship. We have partnered with Pak Sagio, who is recognized by many as the best contemporary Wayang Kulit maker in Indonesia, if not the world. Pak Sagio counts among his customers many practising Dalangs (puppeteers) and even supplies the Istana Negeri (presidential palace) in Jakarta.

Therefore we can offer, in addition to any character from traditional epics, also custom-made designs (delivery time 4 to 6 weeks, please enquire) as well as rare puppets that are usually only made on demand, such as Gunungan (mountain/fire, a full performance sized Gunungan is 100cm/39" high and costs US$300), Rampogan (army/war scene, US$200) and lanscapes, trees or groups of characters.