Accession Number

Cultural Group

Material

Process

Region

Field Collector

Acquired

PRM Source

Dimension

Keyword

Class

Longer Description

Wooden mask of women's face with three painted formline motifs and lip plug. The mask is carved and painted. The background is natural wood, the lips are painted red, the labret natural wood and teeth painted white. The ears and tip of the nose are painted red. The eyebrows and hair are painted black. The eyes are painted black and the eye sockets are painted blue. The three motifs are on each cheek and forehead. [MJD 24/08/2009]

Description

Wooden mask of women's face with three painted formline motifs and lip plug. [MJD 24/08/2009]

Publications History

Reproduced in black and white as figure 10 on page 7 of 'Haida Art in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, and the Rev. Charles Harrison', by June Bedford, in European Review of Native American Studies, Vol. XII, no. 2 (1998), pp. 1-10. Caption reads: '"Mask representing one of the principal Haida women or witches, called Ania" (Harrison Ms.).' [JC 16 4 1999]
Discussed by Charles Harrison on p. 86 of his Ancient Warriors of the North Pacific (London: H.F. and G. Witherby, 1925): 'Even women on occasions wore masks, but they were only assumed by those who aspired to magic power. Such a one, when impelled to prophesy, painted her face blue and black and donned her mask which represented, in an exaggerated fashion, the facial contortions such a woman would exhibit when temporarily possessed.' [JC 16 4 1999]

Trails - This object appears in the trail 'Unseen masks of the Pitt Rivers Museum' (current from March 2005) [RTS 15/4/2005].

Display History

Selected for display in the PRM exhibition 'Objects Talk', 5th October 2002 - Summer 2003. [CF 25/6/2002]
Exhibition Labels [Displayed in the special exhibition Objects Talk at the PRM from 5 October 2002 to 17 August 2003. In this exhibition, objects were displayed with curatorial notes and with comments elicited by Museum staff from members of the local community, who selected the objects from the Museum's displays and reserve collections. This object was accompanied by the following texts] - Comment: ‘Wooden mask with lip plug, North America. I used to make these faces in India. Eyes out of small shells and then we made small stars, suns, moons and hung them on the wall for the festival of Dusehra. Every evening for eight days, we sang songs and put everything in the river at the end on the ninth day. Mrs Angrish.' Curatorial note: ‘Wooden mask with lip plug, North America. Masks such as these represent women of high status in Haida culture. Girls were given narrow lip-plugs at puberty, which got wider as they got older. The markings are abstract renditions of Haida crests such as the new moon or killer whale and reflect the rights and status of the mask's owner. Explorers in the 1790s, such as George Vancouver, noted the authority of women who wore these masks when greeting strangers. This example comes from the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) off the Northwest Coast of Canada. Museum accession number: 1891.49.2.' [OD 24/10/2002].

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This mask was viewed alongside other masks on Thursday Sept 10, 2009. Delegates were interested in the mask, but especially in the writing on the reverse. Ruth Gladstone-Davies found a Haida word she believes to be written phonetically: 'Ania'. A number of delegates experimented with the word, stressing different syllables. Diane Brown thought it would most likely have been pronounced Aaniiyaah. Nika Collison spotted a further description inside the mask that explains 'woman or witch is called ania'. Diane Brown believes this is a rediscovered word. Diane provided the following probable spellings: Aaniiaa or Aaniia. The moment of finding the word and the discussion that follows is viewable on Tape 4, time 11:30, which can be found in the Haida Project Related Documents File. [CAK 06/04/2010]

In 'Two Haida Artists from Yan. Will John Gwaytihl and Simeon Stilthda please step apart?', in American Indian Art Magazine. Vol. XXIII, no. 3 (Summer 1998), pp. 42-57, 106-107, Robin Wright mistakenly gives the accession number of this mask for 1891.49.10.2. [CW 11 6 98; JC 16 4 1999]

Primary Documentation

Accession book entry: From Rev. Ch. Harrison, 80 Halton Rd, Canonbury Sq. N. Collection of Haida objects collected by him.... - Mask = "Ania" a principal woman or witch. £45. [Purchase price includes 1891.49.1-110]

Card Catalogue Entry - No additional information on catalogue cards. [JC 4 9 1996]

Written on object - Mask representing one of the principal Haida woman or witches, called Ania. C. Harrison coll. (MS No. 2) Purchased 1891. [NM 21 1 1997]

Related Documents File - Discussion of the term 'Ania' can be viewed on Tape 4, time 11:30 within the Haida Project Related Documents File. The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]