Auction details
9:00 AM PT - Feb 20th, 2012
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Mask, Hood - Papua New Guinea region, Sepik River Art - handmade hood of dried grass cover (probable) and mask with shell decoration and painted & pierced coconut face with yellow & black glass beads forming the eyebrows. Mid 20th C.
Condition: some hood loss under the right ear and on top center of hood. (see images) The Sepik River snakes in broad, meandering coils for over 650 miles (1,100 km) before emptying into the Bismark Sea. It is New Guinea's equivalent of the Amazon and the Congo rivers. There are mask-making villages all along the Sepik, but the middle river is the most densely populated with over 25 large villages of the Iatmul language group people between Moim and Pagwi. Tambanum is the largest, others include Timbunke, Angriman, Mindinbit, Kamanimbit, Kanganaman, Palimbei, Yentchan, Korogo and Kandingai. Recent research by the National Museum and drilling by oil companies indicates that during the Ice Ages the Sepik-Ramu River Basin was an inland saltwater sea. With the ongoing tectonic uplift of the island and the erosion of the highlands, the basin filled in and the people living there made the shift from a saltwater to a freshwater culture. During the yearly wet season, the Sepik River and the Ramu River floodplains join together in the old sea basin. The river villagers keep small gardens and the women fish. They trade fish to the inland Sawos people for sago flour, the starchy pith of the sago palm, which is the main staple of the Sepik diet. There is a small cash economy along the Sepik and the people sell fish, as well as carvings for cash. The middle Sepiks have a common ancestry, but each village is independent and this is reflected in their art, including their masks. Every village carves in a distinctive style. The men carve masks from soft woods, although some types are made of clay over-modeled onto turtle or coconut shell. They mix paints from earth pigments and charcoal. The masks are decorated with shells, pig tusks, and cassowary feathers. Few masks are worn directly over the face, which explains the lack of holes for eyes. Some are fastened onto a large cone-shaped wicker framework for a dance costume called a tumbuan. Raffia is knotted into the bottom hoop for skirting and flowers, fruit and leaves added on for color and power at the time of the ceremony. Other masks are made only for display, most often in the men's Haus, to attract powerful and useful spirits. The individual elements of the masks are complex, &often refer directly or indirectly to ancestor or clan spirits and totems such as pig, cassowary (muruk), crocodile (pukpuk), eagle (taragau), or a water and bush bird (saun). There are many different types of masks for different purposes. Weight: 2lbs Condition reportsome hood loss under the right ear and on top center of hood.
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