Small clay mask, um 1900 · Papua New Guinea - Lower Sepik, East Sepik Province, Pora Pora River · ID: 3046889
not available anymore
Provenance
Ulrich Kortmann, Dortmund, GermanySize
M: 8,5 cm x 7 cm
M: 3.3 inch x 2.8 inch
Description
terracotta,
With regard to the function of these small clay masks, there is the hint that “small clay masks were tied to the knees and bodies of ancestor figures” (Ch. Kaufmann).
This was proved by Bruce Frank, who illustrated two drawings of monumental spirit figures from this area, whose knees are carved with small mask faces (B. Frank, 2015, Fig. D & E).
Comparing literature
Frank, Bruce, Porapora, Archaic Terracottas from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, New York 2015, Fig. D & E