Mask · 

Papua New Guinea - Sepik · ID: 3038262

Description

wood, dark brown patina, red pigment, framing of tortoise shell around the eyes, ears with two drilled holes each for attachment of ornament, flat beak-like nose, drilled holes around the rim, slightly dam., minor missing part (forhead ridge), old rep. at the right ear (fixed with tar-like blackish mass), abrasion of paint;
worn by dancers on occasion of ritual festivities. The masks depict either ancestors or mythical spirits; which of them cannot be determined, when the masks once have left their place of origin.