Mask
ClassificationsClothing and Adornments-masks
Date19th Century
Made AtMadang Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumWood and traces of red and green pigment
Dimensions16 × 7 3/8 × 3 3/4 in. (40.6 × 18.7 × 9.5 cm)
Credit LineBowers Museum Purchase
Object number2016.1.1
DescriptionCarved from dark wood, this mask depicts a human face, likely that of an ancestor. The cultural and linguistic groups that reside within the Bogia area from which this mask comes are rarely if ever written about in scholarship. In addition, objects from this part of Papua New Guinea are rarely found in museum collections. The soft and velvety appearance of the wood is from the shell, stone or bone tool used to carve it and years of handling and use. The holes found at each side of the mask indicate that it was once part of a larger ceremonial dance ensemble. It would have been attached to this ensemble by threading fiber through these holes.On View
On viewCollections
20th Century
