Description

Mai mask. Carving of a face is oblong and narrow, with a pointed head, a ridge running down forehead, and a prominent nose with a curved nostril free-spanning the lower part of the face. Mask is painted in swirls, short rounded lines, and colour blocks in shades of brown and dark yellow, with white lime pigment in the eye and nose area. Short grass surrounds the jaw as a bushy beard. Shells are inset into mud as eyes and at the top of the head, from which sprout fine cassowary feathers. Plant fibre is looped through the top. Interior of mask is concave.