Mask constructed from a tortoise shell and decorated with animal remains. The top half of the mask is covered with part of the skin of a big cat species. The face has moulded features made from a grey putty-like material, with some red pigmentation, and eyes made from seeds set into it. It is also decorated with two vertebrae, probably from a reptile, and four rib bones. The five teeth are possibly made from spikes on a turtle's carapace.
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
