Mask Item Number: A8372 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Carved mask, painted with blue and red. Meade's notes: "note that the eyes are purposely off balance while every other feature of the face, mouth, eyebrows, and design are in good balance". Seven holes line the top ridge of mask.

History Of Use

Mrs. Billy Assu of Cape Mudge said she saw this mask in a Bella Coola dance when she was a child. She identifies it as a wise spirit mask. Andy Schooner of Deadman's Creek Reserve, indicates that he had seen the mask used by the Snow family of South Bentick.

Narrative

In 1959 John Davenport Clayton sold this collection of Bella Coola belongings (A8360-A8376) to the Campbell River Historical Society (Museum). The collection comprised 17 masks, headdresses, and other ceremonial items, as well as 3 cedar boxes. In 1963 the Campbell River Museum sold the 17 masks and ceremonial items to MOA (not the boxes). Objects in this collection may have come from Nuxalk households via sale, or exchange (as collateral towards money owed on goods purchased at the store), or may have been placed with the Claytons for secure storage during a time of floods and fires, and ended up remaining with the Clayton family?

Item History

What

Name
Mask
Identification Number
A8372
Type of Item
mask
Material
paint and alder wood
Manufacturing Technique
carved and painted
Overall
height 26.8 cm, width 18.4 cm, depth 11.5 cm

Who

Culture
Nuxalk
Previous Owner
Snow Family, John Davenport Clayton and Campbell River & District Historical Society
Received from
Campbell River & District Historical Society (Seller) and H. R. MacMillan (Funding source)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada

When

Collection Date
between 1890 and 1910
Ownership Date
before 1959 and before April 17, 1963
Acquisition Date
on April 17, 1963

Other

Condition
good
Current Location
Case 12
Accession Number
0099/0013