Timorese dance masks are one of several distinctive masking traditions practiced by the peoples of eastern Indonesia. Found primarily in East Timor, they represent distant ancestors and were worn by warriors during victory celebrations and probably at other important feasts and ceremonies. The masks were often painted and adorned with bristles or strips of hide representing facial hair. The holes in the upper lip and forehead of this example likely served for the attachment of a mustache and eyebrows, while the wearer would have looked out through the mouth. When in use, the mask would have been attached to a hood of fur or cloth that covered the remainder of the head and concealed the dancer's identity. While some masks made of more perishable materials would have been discarded at the conclusion of the ceremony, wooden ones, such as this highly polished and deeply patinated work, were preserved and reused for many years.