Masque "brag" · Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée - Bas Sepik, Murik · ID: 3052146
Family-owned since then
Description
wood, red ochre, rest.
“Brag” masks represent ancestors or mythical beings and have personal names. Each mask is usually fastened to a small frame of sticks and then stored on a shelf in the ceiling of the men’s house.
The spirits of these masks are evoked during important occasions such as the building of a cult house or canoe, or at the initiation of young men. Lipset characterises the “brag” spirit as male and warlike, seducing women and devouring young initiates before spitting them back to their mothers as adult men. A symbolic act that symbolises the transformation of boys into adult men.
“Brag” masks were consulted before headhunting raids and given food and blood. After a successful raid, the severed head of the victim was rubbed on the masks so they could “drink the blood”. The young men likewise drank the blood of the severed head to make them strong and fearless in battle (according to Craig, 2010, p. 210 f.).
Littérature comparée
Craig, Barry (ed.), Living spirits with fixed abodes, Honolulu 2010, p. 210 f.