Shaman Mask, Pacific Northwest Coast Native American Indian Art


Shamanic Mask

With headdress attached, it is a wood mask
finely carved in the tradition of a shaman just south of the
Tsimshian tribal region, probably Bella Bella.
The headdress is of complex construction, a framework of
strong flexible branches tied together with
feathers and down of a sea bird. The mask has human hair
implants above the forehead and is painted with
vermilion and other native pigments. It was probably
worn by a shaman while working in a curative capacity
with the sick.

Circa Mid-19th Century.

Provenance: This mask with headdress was collected
on expedition to the Northwest Coast of America in 1881-82,
on behalf of the Royal Berlin Ethnological Museum
(The Museum für Völkerkunde,Dahlem, Berlin, Germany).
It bears the accession number: IV. a. 1302,
and 301. It was acquired from
the Museum by exchange in the early 1970s.

Height: 11 inches, Width: 12 inches,
Depth: 14 inches, inclusive of headdress
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