Mask "mwai" ("mvai" / "mwei") ·  Papua New Guinea, Iatmul · ID: 3053744

Description

wood, pigments, clay, cowry and nassa shells, shell rings, boar tusks, hair, rattan, rest.

A mask from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection, probably from the same workshop, was sold at Sotheby’s London on 2 July, 1990, as lot 13.

“Mwai” masks, portraying clan ancestors, always appear in pairs.

They are mounted on conical rattan and coconut fibre racks encased in painted palm leaf sheaths. The costumes are worn by younger, newly initiated men who hide under the rack, singing into howler pipes.

Women dance around the masks and try to recognize the identity of the mask wearer by the legs. Thus, the performances also serve to bring the sexes together and as love magic.

Comparing literature

Aumann, Georg, Kunst und Kunsthandwerk aus Neu Guinea, Coburg 1986, p. 60, ill. 121