Rare masque de chaman, vers 1900-1930 ·  Alaska du Sud-Ouest, Île Nunivak, Yupik · ID: 3051581

Description

wood, pigments, two wooden rings, feathers as a mount for attached wooden elements (seal and its flippers, two whale’s tails), water stains, base

This mask depicts the human-like face of a shamanic spirit.

Inside the communal men’s house “qasgiq”, Yup’ik shamans performed masked ceremonies which brought to life helping spirits and supernatural beings. Shamans wore masks to facilitate communication and movements between worlds (the visible and the invisible, the men and the spirits, the living and the dead…). This voyage is symbolized here by the concentric circles around the face.

Ritually powerful when in use, they were often discarded afterwards, their power and spiritual energy spent.

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