Zoomorphic mask "kavat" · Papua New Guinea - Bismarck Archipelago - New Britain - Gazelle Peninsula, Uramot Baining · ID: 3041297
Description
plant fibre, black and red pigments, bark cloth stretched over bamboo framework, forming a huge head with openwork cross in forehead, large round concentric painted eyes, open mouth through which the wearer could see, tongue-like projection below chin, attachment of lower jaw loosend in parts, minor missing parts in cloth, some stains;
“kavat” masks embody spirits that are related to hunting and the finding of food in the bush (tree spirits). Such masks were worn at initiations for young men as they entered into the grade level achieved by reaching a specific age. At dawn, the orchestra that had provided the music and rhythm for the dances forced the masks back into the bush to reestablish the primacy of civilized order over the powers of the wild spirits.
Littérature comparée
Wardwell, Allen, Island Ancestors, Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, Fort Worth 1994, p. 128