Ceremonial mask "brag", 1930-1940 · Papua New Guinea, Lower Sepik - Ramu · ID: 3049732
Galerie Flak, Paris, France
Magnus Svensson, Broby, Sweden
Description
wood, red ochre, lime, shell discs, base
The “brag” spirit is characerised as male and warlike, seducing women and devouring young initiates before spitting them back to their mothers as adult men. A symbolic act that symbolises the transformation of boys into adult men.
The “brag” masks were consulted before headhunting raids and given food and blood. After a successful raid, the severed head of the victim was rubbed on the masks so they could “drink the blood”. The young men likewise drank the blood of the severed head to make them strong and fearless in battle.
The object Ceremonial mask “brag”, 1930-1940 with the object ID 3049732 was last part of the auction Sale 100 at April 15, 2023 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 13 achieved a sales price of EUR 5,500.
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Expertise
Certificat d' Authenticité, Julien Flak, Paris, 20 January 2015
Comparing literature
Conru, Kevin (ed.), Sepik Ramu Art, Brussels 2019, p. 235 ff.
Publications
Galerie Flak, "Rites et Formes de Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée", Paris 2009, p. 60 and p.108