INDONESIA, CENTRAL JAVA, 9TH CENTURY

Throughout Indonesia, the stylized leonine face of Kala, the demon of time associated with sun and light, is included in sacred sculpture and architecture. Most frequently he is placed on the lintel above the entryway to a temple. In Central Java, Kala's mouth is wide open, with only the upper jaws depicted above the doorway and the lower jaws represented by the stairway leading inside. In East Java, however, both upper and lower jaws appear above the door. Here, the presence of the upper jaws and the deeply carved scrollwork suggests a Central Javanese origin. For a related example, see J. Fontein, The Sculpture of Indonesia, 1990, p. 137, cat. no. 11A; contrast with A. Kinney, Worshipping Shiva and Buddha: the Temple Art of East Java, 2003, p. 171, fig. 127.