Featured Balinese wood carving Who is this figure.

Hope someone might be able to tell me about this . It is 11" tall and I think carved from a root or wood knot.
Mikey

 

It may be Dewi Sri, the rice goddess. But @Any Jewelry can tell you all about it.

 

The wood was affected by a disease or fungus. In the Javanese cultural region, of which Bali is a part, wood like this is regarded as special.

Mikey, I copied this from something I've written before in another thread:

".... your elegant lady is a man in disguise. She features in one of the great Hindu epics, the Mahabharata.
One chapter of the epic is how the Devas, divine beings, had part of their power stolen from them. This power is commonly referred to as immortality, but is actually higher knowledge and wisdom. In order to regain their power they had to drink Amrita, the nectar of immortality.
I will spare you the complicated details of how they obtained Amrita, but when they did, their rivals the Asuras took it.
In order to take the Amrita from the Asuras, Vishnu, being a clever Deva/deity, assumed the form of the essence of feminine beauty and grace. This was either an illusion or a disguise. He managed to enchant the Asuras into giving him the Amrita. This is how he is depicted here, a very graceful young lady, holding the vessel containing Amrita.
In Hinduism this illusion by Vishnu is generally called Mohini. She appears in other myths as well, using the essence of femininity to fight demons and other 'unwanted elements'.
In Bali most people would call her Dewi, just like the supreme female deity. That is also correct, Vishnu could not have accomplished the illusion without Dewi's help in using part of her divine femininity."

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/bali-goddess-or-woman-carving-who-is-she-and-how-old.28683/

 

Thanks @Any Jewelry for knowledgeable and interesting answer. Do you think this is older? Quality of carving? Type of wood?
Mikey

 

I think 1960s-ish.

Not top, but what she(he) has going for her is a nice smile.

That is always a difficult one with these light-coloured woods. Even collectors have to ask specialists in Indonesian wood species, and two woods that look the same could be different.
A Balinese favourite is suar wood, but with that sheen, yours could be East Javanese teak. No guarantees though.

The other day I came across a listing saying a Javanese teak carving was Balinese and oak. Sure, because oak is such a tropical wood.

 

Awesome as usual A J. With the color variations and grain it looks like Javanese Teak but I've only looked at a couple hundred so far lol.
Mikey

 

If that's all...

 

Well it's still early.

 

Besides bacteria some of those burls are caused by ovipositing wasps.