Heron Mask Item Number: 1-1446 from the The Burke: University of Washington
Exhibit Label
The renowned Kwakwaka'wakw artist Mungo Martin identified this transformation mask as his own work. It was made for a chief named Lagius, probably around 1920. The style of carving and painting are recognizable as that of Mungo Martin or his stepfather and mentor Charley James. Although the mask is called Crane in the museum records, the gray color and the hunched attitude when folded are reminiscent of the great blue heron, a bird common to the Kwakwaka'wakw country and often miscalled crane in English. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)
Automatically Generated From Material
The cloth is cotton. The string is cotton. The paint is black, white, red, blue, and green.
Item History
- Made by Mungo Martin
- Received from Mrs. Walter C. Waters
What
- Name
- Heron Mask
- Identification Number
- 1-1446
- Type of Item
- heron mask
- Material
- red cedar wood, yellow cedar wood, cloth, cotton, string and paint
- Manufacturing Technique
- carved, painted and tied
- Overall
- height 85.0 cm, width 150.0 cm, depth 48.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Kwakwaka'wakw: Kwagu'l
- Creator
- Mungo Martin
- Received from
- Mrs. Walter C. Waters
Where
- Holding Institution
- The Burke: University of Washington
Other
- Credit
- Purchased from Mrs. Walter C. Waters
- Motif
- Heron | Human
- Collection
- Burke Museum Ethnology Collection