Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Bali, town of Mas, 1990. A tall carving in pale wood of Sita, heroine of the Ramayana, with flowing scarves and a crown, beside the magic golden deer.

In the Ramayana, the demon Rāvana sends Mārīcha disguised as a golden deer to lure Rama away from Sita; she is then abducted. The episode is a favourite of Balinese dance and of the master woodcarvers of Mas, a village known for fine carving since the 1930s. Field collected, Bali, 1991.