Rare shaman's mask, ca. 1900-1930
South West Alaska, Nunivak Island, Yupik
sold
EUR 6,500
Provenance
collected in Bethel, AlaskaJeffrey Myers, New York, USA
Finch & Co., London, Great Britain
Andreas & Kathrin Lindner, Munich, Germany
Adrian Schlag, Brussels, Belgium
Size
H: 28 cm (mask)
37 cm (with hoops)
H: 11.0 inch (mask)
14.6 inch (with hoops)
Description
wood, pigments, two wooden rings, feathers as a mount for attached wooden elements (seal and its flippers, two whale’s tails), water stains, base
This mask depicts the human-like face of a shamanic spirit.
Inside the communal men’s house “qasgiq”, Yup’ik shamans performed masked ceremonies which brought to life helping spirits and supernatural beings. Shamans wore masks to facilitate communication and movements between worlds (the visible and the invisible, the men and the spirits, the living and the dead…). This voyage is symbolized here by the concentric circles around the face.
Ritually powerful when in use, they were often discarded afterwards, their power and spiritual energy spent.