WATER DIPPER

This gold artifact is fashioned after a water dipper, or bucket, traditionally made of lontar (palm leaves). The actual lontar leaf bucket would be larger in size and used to be common on islands like Madura, Bali, Lombok, and Nusa Tenggara. It is still being used today in Nusa Tenggara and the nearby islands. The piece has been shaped with hammer work, and the outside of the vessel has been incised and chiseled to create the ribs of the leaves. Most probably, this golden water dipper, as well as other pieces found in Wonoboyo (Central Java), was intended for ceremonial purposes of the nobility.