Palintangan Calendar: Balinese painting E74230

The Palintangan Calendars are used to determine the likely character of a person born on a particular day. They specify what offerings should be made to alleviate sickness and misfortune, according to the day of birth of the individual. Each day of the seven-day week has a set of attributes, some shown at the top: a god or goddess; a character from the shadow-puppet (Wayang) theatre; a tree and a bird. Palintangan were probably the most frequently produced type of paintings and were available in a wide variety of sizes and finishes.

The artist Pan Seken (c.1900-1980) has included in this Palintangan many original touches. For example, in the "Fishtrap with a Hole" scene (sixth column from left and third row from top), two fishermen point at each other's eel traps from which the eel is escaping. The sailors depicted may have been Dutch. However some observers have suggested that their costumes resemble those of the earlier Portuguese traders.

Professor Anthony Forge bought this calendar from the artist in 1972-73. He noted that it was famous in Banjar Sangging, (the Ward of Kamasan village where the painters live) because of the fine drawing and writing. Knowing that Forge bought this paining, several painters borrowed it from him for their own inspiration.