Indonesian Art - Elephant Head

Indonesian Art - Elephant Head

A one-of-a-kind carving, this elephant head is carved in Bali from a piece of chinaberry wood rose. The images above show each side of this small statue. The artistry of the piece is created by the carver and nature.

For countless centuries, plants have been forming galls to ward off the attacks of bacteria, fungi, mistletoes, mites, nematodes, viruses, and insects. The exact cause of gall formation varies with different plant species. In the case of certain parasitic fungi and mistletoes, the host plant tends to produce a mass of woody tissue surrounding the infection.

Some tropical mistletoes leave perfect attachment imprints on the host stem long after they have rotted away and fallen off. These club-shaped malformations of the host wood, intricately sculptured by the impressions of the mistletoe haustorium, are called "wood roses". They are a perfect cast of the parasite's haustorial attachment. In Mexico and Bali, "wood roses" are carved into all sorts of beautiful figures, including fish, birds, and reptiles. In Bali, the "wood roses" , commonly called "parasite wood", are taken from the Chinaberry and Mango trees.