Shaman mask ·  Nepal, Middle Hills region · ID: 3038290

Description

wood, slightly encrusted brown patina, open mouth with separate carved and inserted teeth, min. dam., small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion;
this particular mask was worn by the shaman himself, showing deformed or exaggerated features meant to surprise or convey a disturbing aspect of the ceremony. Like ritualists everywhere in the world, invoking a tutelary spirit, involved trance and psychic traveling. The shaman’s vision and experience enabled him to carve the faces of apparitions into wooden masks which were then transformed into animated things through the dances and rites carried out in secrecy.