Mask · Indonesia - Borneo, Iban · ID: 3039247
Christie’s, Amsterdam, 11 December 2001, lot 52
Description
wood, yellow-brown patina, remains of polychrome paint, metal sheet teeth and applications, separate worked wing-like projecting ears fixed by nails, slightly dam., minor missing parts (nose, left ear), fine cracks, rep. (left ear backside), abrasion of paint, base;
Iban masks have absolutely no reality in either physical or supernatural world other than being a piece of wood carved to look frightening. Thus, masks adorn the greatest piece of theatre in the Iban festive repertoire - the great harvest festivals, the greatest being to glorify the harvest of human heads. Aside of theatre masks the Iban do carve masks (“tuping”) with an extraterrestrial intent. These they place on scarecrows guarding their rice swiddens. The masks, while intended to frighten away birds like sparrows and other land-borne pests, also act on the extraterrestrial level, frightening away the souls of these pests, intent on harming the rice spirits.
Comparing literature
Heppell, Michael et. al., Iban Art, Leiden 2005, p. 141 f.