Bride Wealth Mask
Artist
Unknown
Date20th century
MediumFiber, paint, sea snail shell, and rattan
DimensionsH. 13 5/8 x Max. W. 7 7/8 x Max. D. 11 5/8 in. (34.6 x 20.0 x 29.5 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Hanes
Object numberG.77.2.6
On View
Not on viewIn the Maprik district of New Guinea, basketry masks were worn during initiation ceremonies, often to personify a supernatural being (deceased person, ancestor, or spirit). These masks were made of stems of palms with twigs used for binding and were painted with earth pigments (traces remain here). They were traded to other parts of New Guinea, where they were prized and sometimes functioned as a form of currency. In the Middle Sepik River region, they were given at the time of a wedding as "bride-wealth" gifts from the groom's family to the family of the bride.Published ReferencesSupplement a la Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1977), cat. no. 284.
Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 79.
Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 67.
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