Lot 0139A

Papua New Guinea Wood Mwai Mask, Male Ancestor

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19th C. Papua New Guinea Tami Wood Feast Bowl: Oceania, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Huon Gulf Region, Tami Island, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. A hand-carved wood bowl in the form of a boat, the exterior carved with relief and incised

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Papua New Guinea Wood Mwai Mask, Male Ancestor

Item Details

Description

Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik River, Iatmul people, ca. mid to late 20th century CE. An elaborate wooden mwai mask (also mai or mei mask) depicting a male ancestor with inlaid shell eyes surrounded by painted designs, tusks made from bird bone, and a long, curved nose ending in the head of a zoomorph, all surrounded by cowrie shells inlaid in clay and a beard and coiffure made from bird feathers and animal hair. Size of mask: 3.5" L x 4.5" W x 13" H (8.9 cm x 11.4 cm x 33 cm); with suspension loop and feather beard: 21.5" H (54.6 cm)

Provenance: private Los Angeles, California, USA collection, acquired before 2000

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#186068

Condition

Missing some tufts of animal hair on beard, tip of 1 bone tusk, and a few inlaid shells. Matting to hair and weathering to surface with some chips to pigment.