The masks of the Biwat people of the Yuat River, a tributary of the Lower Sepik River, appear to have portrayed two major types of supernatural beings: forest spirits, who lived in the woods surrounding the village, and water spirits, who inhabited rivers and other bodies of water. This mask likely represents a water spirit. In one Biwat village, similar masks formed the heads of human-like figures erected on the backs of gigantic reptilian effigies representing the Crocodile Mother, who symbolically swallowed and later disgorged young novices during initiation rites. The masks also were probably worn on the head during other ceremonies. The cane armature on the back of this example likely served to hold it in place.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Mask
Date:late 19th–early 20th century
Geography:Papua New Guinea, Lower Sepik, Yuat River region
Culture:Biwat people
Medium:Wood, paint, plant fiber, feather, shell
Dimensions:H. 12 1/8 × W. 10 1/4 × D. 8 1/2 in. (30.8 × 26 × 21.6 cm)
Classification:Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
Object Number:1979.206.1634
Raymond and Laura Wielgus, Chicago; [Charles Ratton, Paris]; [Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, until 1961]; Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1961, on permanent loan to The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1961–1978
Museum of Primitive Art. "Sculpture of Oceania," March 31, 1971–September 12, 1971.
Museum of Primitive Art. "Faces," February 14, 1973–September 9, 1973.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
Musée du Quai Branly. "Charles Ratton," June 24, 2013–September 22, 2013.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969, no. 155.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 127.
Newton, Douglas. Masterpieces of Primitive Art: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, p. 71.
McDowell, Nancy. The Mundugumor: From the Field Notes of Margaret Mead and Reo Fortune. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.
Kjellgren, Eric. Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, p. 91, no. 51.
Dagen, Philippe, and Maureen Murphy. Charles Ratton: L'invention des arts primitifs. Paris: Skira Flammarion, 2013, p. 111, fig. 79.
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The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.
