Maskcirca 1909

Not on view

Carved wooden face mask with an elongated oval form, warm brown patina, almond-shaped eye sockets, and relief-carved geometric designs on the upper surface, mounted on a thin rod

Title: Mask
Place Made: Papua New Guinea, East Sepik Province, Lower Sepik River, Coastal Zone
Date Made: circa 1909
Medium: Wood and traces of pigment
Dimensions: 15 1/2 x 6 1/4 x 4 in. (39.37 x 15.88 x 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation with additional funding by Jane and Terry Semel, the David Bohnett Foundation, Camilla Chandler Frost, Gayle and Edward P. Roski, and The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.2008.66.28
Classification: Jewelry and Adornments
Collecting Area: Art of the Pacific
Curatorial Notes: Gallery Label
This mask has the typical features of a coastal Sepik River–area mask, which combines human and avian designs. The birdlike combination includes an elongated beaked nose on an oval face with a pointed chin and slanted eyes. The mask was made of wood with few surface details other than paint and a totemic relief meant to represent an ancestor.
Masks such as this one were kept in ceremonial houses and used in song and dance rituals. Other masks of varying sizes were placed on the gables of ceremonial houses, attached to canoes, or kept as personal amulets.
This mask was used in a number of different ceremonies: events celebrating and honoring marriage, birth, death, and fertility, among them. There were songs and dances to honor the specific ancestor the mask personified and such a mask was used with a costume. The masks and costumes were painted and adorned for the ceremonial use. Following completion of the festivities, the masks were kept, while the costumes were destroyed.
Provenance: Collected by Ferdinand Hefele, in 1909. Wayne Heathcote (b. 1943), New York, NY, sold to; Masco Corporation Collection, Livonia, MI, sold 2008 through; [Sotheby’s, New York, to]; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Wardwell, Allen. Island Ancestors: Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection. [Seattle]: University of Washington Press, 1994.

Maskcirca 1909

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Maskcirca 1909

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