20th c.
Carved wood, shells
31" x 8" x 4"
Provenance: Allan Stone Collection, New York

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. Masks enjoyed a prominent place in ceremonial life. They existed in a wide range of styles and sizes, and were painted in combinations of red, white, yellow, black and grey. The earliest masks were made of leaves. Surviving are ones are made from wood, bark , reed and (a very few of) clay. Masks were dressed with cowrie shells, beads, fiber, feathers or other indigenous or imported materials. They were bought and traded throughout the Sepik along with their songs and dances. Certain masks could be seen by the entire community, while others were only for the initiated . A variety were owned by each family line and sometimes by individuals. Harvest, fertility, birth, name-giving, puberty, marriage and death were occasions for their display. Most masks represent mythical or recently deceased ancestors. Masks like these were worn in ceremonies in which young men impersonated pairs of ancestral brothers and sisters. The mask was shaken to cause invulnerability. The examples with long noses like this one represents men. This is a later mask that is well carved.
References
Wardwell, Allen. The Art of the Sepik River. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1971

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