mask (dance & live theatre)

Carved wooden mask, painted white for the most part, with an extra carved protuberance added to the bridge of the nose. Two wooden horns have been inserted into holes to each side of the mask. A triangular motif is painted on each cheek in black, and there are curvilinear decorative elements to each side of the face, and across the forehead. The mask has an open mouth, with the teeth in both jaws alternately black and white. There is black striping painted around the apertures for the eyes. The aperture for the mouth is painted black all around, with curled motifs to either side.

probably an Indai guru mask used to frighten naughty children

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
5.503
Date
before 1905
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 390 mm x 318 mm x 200 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood; paint
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
World Gallery > Perspectives > Museums perspective - back wall
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Collection Information

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The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive.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.

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