Mask

Museum number:
2-5852
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21020005852
Alternate number:
13-4372 (associated catalog number), 25-2284 (associated catalog number), and x-942 (original number)
Accession number:
Acc.167
Description:
Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.
Donor:
Alaska Commercial Company, Benjamin Bristol, and Older University Collections
Collection place:
Nushagak, Dillingham Borough, Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska; Nushagak
Culture or time period:
Alaskan Eskimo
Collector:
unknown
Collection date:
1898
Materials:
Baleen (baleen; pigment, white and red), Pigment, and Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Masks (costume)
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Accession date:
1904
Context of use:
Dancing. According to Ray, "a mask that probably represents the spirits of some sea mammal and the shaman who possessed that spirit.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
height 64 centimeters, width 63 centimeters, whole— height 28 inches, whole— depth 9 inches, and whole— width 25.5 inches
Comment:
Photo: 13-4372; 25-2284. Published: Ray, Pl. II, text pp. 171-72. Exhibited: Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Mo., Jan, 1962. Exh. and Illus. "The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art" National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1973 (Exh. March 7-May 15, 1973 at National Gallery, Then travelling); p. 121.
Loans:
S1951-1952 #1: University of California, Los Angeles (March 15, 1952–returned by 1957), S1957-1960 [XXX Wellington]: University Art Museum (UC Berkeley) (1957–1960), S1961-1962 #33: Nelson Gallery of Art, Atkins Museum of Fine Arts (December 18, 1961–March 13, 1962), S1971-1972 #85: University of California, Los Angeles (February 2, 1972–July 10, 1972), S1972-1973 #16: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art (October 16, 1972–June 11, 1974), and S2017-2018 #3: Heard Museum (October 29, 2018–February 18, 2019)
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 2 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 3 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 4 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 5 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 6 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 7 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Hearst Museum object 8 of 8 titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask, accession number 2-5852, described as Wooden face with visor; board background; painted white, red and black; numerous attachments (2 hands, 4 "flippers," 1 paddle-like piece, 1 walrus head with tusks); double hoop encircling top and sides; spruce root and commercial string binding.

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