Masque de danse rare · Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée - Hautes terres orientales, région d'Okapa, Fore · ID: 3052912
Sotheby’s, London, 7 December 1992, lot 160
Wayne Heathcote, Brussels / New York / London
Description
wood, handwritten collection number on the back: “H5II”, base
The present mask is shown without adornment, as these were added only immediately before the ceremony in which it was used. The broad ridge above the eyebrows served to secure a headband made of nassas shells. As a crowning feature, it was given an elaborate feather headdress. A beard of tree lichens was attached around the face, hanging long and covering nearly the entire body of the dancer.
The mask dancer represents a bush spirit. These spirits can be both helpful and spiteful to the living, so must be treated with great care and respect.
The appearance of a Fore mask dancer is documented in a photograph by Stanley Gordon Moriarty from 1963.
This type of mask is now rarely found. With the introduction of Christianity in the 1950s, the Fore abandoned many of their traditional ritual practices. During his extensive field research in the highlands in the 1960s, Moriarty is said to have collected some of these masks, which, unfortunately, have since been lost.