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Mask

ca. 1870
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 746
The peoples of the Arctic region use music and performance to invoke the spirit realm. According to native Alaskan beliefs, spirits communicate with people through whistling: these masks may be the faces of such supernatural beings, as they appear to whistle at their beholders. The formal resemblance between the pair, including the prominent noses, minimal eyes, and pointed head decorations, may mark them as specific, linked characters in a myth. Early twentieth-century modernist artists and collectors were drawn to the bold simplicity of such works.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mask
  • Date: ca. 1870
  • Geography: Made in Kodiak Island, Alaska, United States
  • Culture: Alutiiq/ Sugpiaq, Native American
  • Medium: Wood and pigment
  • Dimensions: 16 1/4 × 9 1/2 × 4 7/8 in. (41.3 × 24.1 × 12.4 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Valerie-Charles Diker Fund, 2017
  • Object Number: 2017.718.4.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
Mask, Wood and pigment, Alutiiq/ Sugpiaq, Native American
Mask
Alutiiq/ Sugpiaq, Native American
ca. 1870
Kpeliye’e headdress, Senufo artist, Wood, horns, quills, raffia fiber, cotton cloth, feathers, metal, applied organic materials, Senufo peoples
Kpeliye’e headdress
Senufo artist
19th–mid-20th century
Man's coat, Tanned leather and pigment, Innu/ Naskapi, Native American
Man's coat
Innu/ Naskapi, Native American
ca. 1820
Mask, Wood, pigment, vegetal fiber, iron nails, and feathers, Yup'ik, Native American
Mask
Yup'ik, Native American
ca. 1900
Face, Olmec artist(s), Jadeite, Olmec
Face
Olmec artist(s)
900–400 BCE

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