Mask
Item number E 1911.26 from the MAA: University of Cambridge.
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This information was automatically generated from data provided by MAA: University of Cambridge. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.
Description
A human mask carved in wood with an open prognathic mouth set with operculum shell teeth. The mask has prominent black eyebrows, large black eyes, a small slightly flared nose and an open oval mouth with four teeth. The mask has a face-painting design on its surface which is composed of a band of intersecting diamonds across the nose and under the eyes, the eyes and chin are surrounded by pale blue. The ears are stylised and painted red. The inside of the mask is also painted with a red band of linked triangles at the upper edge.; Good
Context
The original European tribal names and, where possible, current tribal names have both been given in separate GLT fields. A note on the catalogue card states the mask may be numbered 1911.10 in the Blue Book. Although there is a clear provenanceassociated with these masks E 1911.25 26 the style of carving suggests a Tsimshian origin (G.Crowther).; Tlingit shamans masks represented the spirits or Yek controlled by the shaman, and from whom he derived his power. Often they are associated with asymmetrical face-painting, and eyes which cannot be looked through while the mask is worn; the older masks are thought not to have eye-holes. This information, gleaned from Emmon' s work, The Tlingit Indians (Washington University Press: Seattle 1991) page 377-79, is not surprisingly in keeping with the information given by Finch who also consulted Emmons. However there is a fine line between identifying shamans masks and portrait masks which were worn at potlatches to commemorate a known ancestor. This point is also noted by Aldona Jonaitis in Art of the Northern Tlingit (Washington University Press: Seattle 1989) page 28. A difference has been suggested by Emmons, that the portrait masks had a cross-bar on the inside for the wearer to grip in their teeth, while the shamanic masks lack such a means of wearing. These two masks donot have mouth grips (G.Crowther).; Exhibited: Old Anthropological displays at CUMAA, case 21 and 22, number 16, dismantled 081986. New Anthropological displays at CUMAA, square case, object number 10, 1990 -.; Collected by: Finch.H.Wynne in 1900
Item History
- Made in Alaska, USA
- Received from H. Wynne Finch during 1911
Who
- Culture
- Tlingit: Auk ?
- Received from
- H. Wynne Finch
When
- Acquisition Date
- during 1911
Other
- Keyword
- Masques and Drama; Ceremonial Objects; Magic and Religion
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