Spirit mask · Caroline Islands, Mortlock Island, Ponape · ID: 3034453
Vendu
1 200 €
Provenance
American Private Collection, BremertonDescription
light-weighted wood (probably breadfruit-tree), white and black pigment, of narrow elongated form with stylized facial features and disc-shaped projecting beard, “Devil mask - Ponape” written in pencil on the inside of the mask, slightly dam., paint rubbed off;
such masks served for manipulating the weather, they should help to ward off typhoons and make the bread fruits ripen.
Littérature comparée
Heermann, Ingrid, Südseeoasen, Stuttgart 2009, p. 129