Small clay mask, um 1900
Papua New Guinea - Lower Sepik, East Sepik Province, Pora Pora River
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).