Although previously attributed stylistically to the "11th century (?)" (Pal 1987, p. 50, no. 13), this Offering Vessel in the Form of a Female Head more likely dates from the 14th-15th century and was made in the region of Trowulan (or Trawulan), the former capital of the Majapahit Empire (1292–1527) in Eastern Java. The treatment of the eyebrows, eyes, lobed hairstyle, and lozenge-shaped forehead marking (bindu) are closer to the female heads from Trowulan than the previously suggested stylistic comparison of the female spout head at the bathing place of Djalatunda dated 977. See A. J. Bernet Kempers, Ancient Indonesian Art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), pp. 67 and 95, pls. 189 and 289-290; and John N. Miksic, ed. The Legacy of Majapahit (Singapore: National Heritage Board, 1995), p. 166, no. 79.
The LACMA head is surmounted hunted by a shallow bowl. It was probably originally atop a short column or pot and functioned as an offering stand for flowers or fruit. See H. R. A. Muller, Javanese Terracottas: Terra Incognita (Lochem, The Netherlands: Tijdstroom, 1978), pp. 86 and 105, pl. 164.
See also M.83.117.1–.2, M.85.279.2, and M.86.345.17.
