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Hi,

A neighbor asked if I could help her identify the origin of this sculpture. Her late husband was a doctor who worked for the UN and was posted to SE Asia. She has quite a few items he collected that appear to be Burmese, and quite a few more than appear to be Indonesian.

The stone appears to be a dense basalt.

I've exhausted the scant reference books I have on art from the region... any help anyone more knowledgable here can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks... I've attaching small images as well as a link to a large copy of the image below.

1st thing this is not basalt stone. 2nd this is made in this century (under 50 year old)3rd is this is artist(carver) self creation.does not belong to any period or subject. about some year ago(40--60)some art work happend in SE asia many head is cemented+dust hard stone(not stone)

As I am not a petrologist, I cannot speak with mathematical certainty to the structural composition being that of basalt.

I can however speak with certitude that it is rock, and with near-certainty that it is volcanic. Either way, it is not cement. I have examined the surface under magnification (and the bottom is unfinished). But it is defnintely rock. I apologize if this is not clearly conveyed in the photograph.

I figured it was contemporary to the time of its acquisition (mid-3rd quarter 20th C. according to my neighbor), but did not know if it followed any convention or if it was in fact, as you describe it, a 'self-creation' by the carver, most likely for decorative purposes.

Anyway, a belated thank you for the input; you answered the most important question I had about this piece.

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