A 'MAI' MASK AND A SMALL WOOD CARVING

Description:

Central Sepik, Iatmul, Papua New Guinea
L. 24,5-70 cm
Emphasized long face proportions. The wooden mask is vividly decorated with attached kauri shells, appliqués made of bone or cassowary bone and decorated with what is probably human hair. The "Mai" mask represents a (here male) ancestor and was worn as part of initiation ceremonies.
From an important South German private collection, assembled in the 1970s and 80s - Residue of painting, traces of age