Painted wooden tiger. Probably 19th–20th century. Central Bali. Asian Ethnology, Power Collection. UMMAA 37390.

In 1955, University of Michigan Regent Eugene B. Power travelled to East and South Asia with his family. While in Bali, the Powers purchased more than 100 ornately painted wooden carvings and presented the collection to the Museum upon their return to Michigan. Unlike stone art found in temples, these were objects for popular use. Painted wood carvings—of gods, animals, and supernatural figures—were made to decorate more modest family shrines and homes. Included in the Power collection is this fierce, large-eyed crouching red and gold tiger. At one time, a carved lid probably topped the receptacle in the tiger’s back.

Back to Day 159 or continue to Day 161.

In honor of the University of Michigan’s 2017 bicentennial, we are celebrating the remarkable archaeological and ethnographic collections and rich legacy of research and teaching at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology by posting one entry a day for 200 days. The entries will highlight objects from the collections, museum personalities, and UMMAA expeditions. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is also posting each day for 200 days on Twitter and Facebook (follow along at #KMA200). After the last post, an exhibition on two centuries of archaeology at U-M opens at the Kelsey. Visit the exhibit—a joint project of the UMMAA and the Kelsey—from October 18, 2017 to May 27, 2018.