Mask

This striking mask is carved with concentric ridges and grooves around a central aperture and has two slits for eyes. The inside is concave and smooth, except where the aperture is encircled by a single shallow groove. Two holes are pierced on each side for a headstrap; there are three further holes around the top for feathers, now lost.

Fitzhugh and Kaplan observe (1982:201-2) that circular grooves, hoops and feather attachments frequently appear on Alaskan Inuit masks and other objects (see object 893).They cite iconographic parallels with circular constructions erected in the ceremonial house, symbolic of the heavens, and they also suggest a relationship between circular devices and the encircling of the human face by the parkahood, defining its special identity and its relationship to the surrounding world.

Two similar examples of this rare form of mask, complete with feathers, were collected by Nelson at Rasboinsky on the Lower Yukon in 1879 (Collins et al., 1973:110; Fitzhugh and Kaplan, 1982: fig. 258). Nelson stated that they represented a tunghak, a powerful spirit and mythical ‘keeper of the game who controlled the supply of game. These were probably shamans’ masks, worn during winter festivals in the ceremonial house. When in use it is likely that fur strips or tassels hung from the central ‘mouth’.

Steven Hooper, 1997

Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, Vol. 2: Pacific, African and Native North American Art, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997) pp. 250-251.