A LARGE PAINTED WOOD 'PHALLUS' KRIS HOLDERBali, 20th centuryThe monumental sculpture, used to expose a kris, is realistically modeled like an erect penis, laying on a rectangular section base decorated on the sides with animals amidst leaf in relief.105 cm highProvenance: ambassador Gerardo Carante.The phallic form is a reference to Shiva, a deity of Hinduism that is also worshiped in its form of lingam, an abstraction that clearly refers to the penis. A kris holder of this type belonged to the collection of Donald Friend (Donald Friend's Bali, exhibition catalogue, Sydney 1990, p. 51, n. 37).