Old mask of a snake demon ·  Sri Lanka · ID: 3042128

Description

light wood, polychrome painted, grotesque face with bulgy eyes and large open snout, surrounded by six snakes “naga”, slightly dam., minor missing parts (left corner of the mouth), rep. (breakages in several places), abrasion of paint;
in the iconography of Sri Lankan masks, two main subjects can be ascertained: people (real and of mythological origin) and demons (disease and snake demons). These mask types are used in the masking game “kolam”.

The object Old mask of a snake demon with the object ID 3042128 was part of the auction 86th Tribal Art Auction on May 27, 2017. The object with the lot number 73 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,100 with an asking price of EUR 400.

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Comparing literature

Höpfner, Gerd, Masken aus Ceylon, Berlin 1969, ill. 96