Description:

Indonesia, western Irian Jaya/West Papua, Asmat people, ca. early to mid 20th century CE. A woven fiber body mask, with painted wooden attachments forming the wide open eyes and thick decorative tufts of cassowary feathers at the temples. Alternating pink and white pigment - the pink now aged to russet - decorate the woven areas. This type of mask represents the dead, and is danced in the mask feast, when the dead symbolically visit the community. Size: 20" W x 31" H (50.8 cm x 78.7 cm); 65" H (165.1 cm) on included custom stand.

See a similar example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1978.412.1282a/

Provenance: private Tucson, Arizona, USA collection, acquired between 1950 and 1985

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#147629

  • Condition: Wear on surface commensurate with age, including some fraying to edges and fading of pigment as shown. Overall nice condition.

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July 25, 2019 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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