Balinese Painted Cloth Temple Banner

19th century AD.Long, narrow colorful hand painted temple hanging depicting a procession of seated and standing figures painting on cloth.

It is telling a story related to religion, cosmology, mythology and everyday life. In essence, these paintings illustrate epic poems and folk tales. The major stories illustrated in traditional Balinese temple paintings are derived from the Indian epic poems the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These types of cloth are hung along the eaves of a temple building during religious ceremonies.


Size 54 in L x 10 in H. (Framed 57"L x 13.5"H.)

Ex collection of Susan Gullia, NYC; a travel consultant and fundraiser who died in 2022 at the age of 89, created some of the very first educational, luxury tours specifically designed for art collectors and museum supporters. In 1964 Gullia developed the inaugural museum-sponsored “study tour” for the Brooklyn Museum, on which museum directors took donors to Egypt, giving them access to museums, temples and private collections not open to the public. It was a novel idea at the time, and a huge success. These trips, which served as fundraisers for the museum, would become Gullia’s hallmark. From the mid-60’s onward she specialized in creating innovative tours to what were then less traveled places, including India, Peru, Japan, Thailand, Cuba and China, for museums and cultural institutions all over the world. She also specialized in museum sponsored tours of major European and US cities. Gullia used her connections with art historians, curators and museum directors to build unique experiences, with experts serving as guides, sharing knowledge about art and architecture with donors and collectors.

Gullia was also a philanthropist and supported a huge array of organizations, including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York City Ballet, as well as many humane organizations. She served as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ms. Gullia, also a dedicated conservationist, had no immediate family, and left her Amagansett home to the Peconic Land trust.