Old mask of a snake demon

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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”.

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Comparing literature

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

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