Tribal Ancestor Mask, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea

Description

Hand carved and painted with natural colours only.
Huge Shells are used for mens eyes, also eyes are is decorated with cowrie shells.
Paints are applied throughout the country with the fingers, chewed or frayed ends of plant stems, or with feathers.
Sources of the various colours are: lime for white, charcoal for black, soapstone for grey, ochres for yellow and brown, and plants
for red and blue.
Any artifact from Papua New Guinea, whether it be a bone dagger or an intricately carved spirit figure, still fairly accurately
symbolizes a living part of the cultural background from which it originates.
Age: mid 20th century
Height:  71 cm (28 inches)
Width:   32 cm (12,6 inches)
Mask is heavy, approx. 4 kg
This Mask is a part of our collection of Papua New Guinea Art, acquired by collector
in Papua New Guinea in the 1960s.