Mosquito mask "parak" · Papua New Guinea - Sepik Delta · ID: 3053655
Starting price
EUR 3,500
Estimated price
EUR 5,000
Provenance
Ernst Heinrich, Stuttgart / Bad Cannstatt, GermanyWolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Germany, 6 December 1985, lot 249
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Size
H: 39,5 cm
H: 15.6 inch
Description
wood, pigments, red seeds,
The nose is a reference to a mythical spirit called “parak”, which is closely involved in the initiation ceremonies of the young-men-to-be and in hunting. As such, the “parak” is thought to reveal the game to the hunter while concealing it from strangers.
Publications
Conru, Kevin, Ernst Heinrich, An Extraordinary Collector, Brussels 2025, p. 293