Speaker’s face mask
Red cedar wood(Thuja plicata), black pigment. Kwakiult population. Presumed period: late 19th or early 20th century. Central coast of British Columbia. Canada
Height 20cm
Provenance :
Christian Couturier Collection, Paris
This mask is carved in the classical style. Mouth with closed lips. The naturalistic nose has hollowed-out nostrils. Large, diamond-shaped eyes are sculpted with centered, pierced circular pupils. High, arched eyebrows are highlighted with a line of black pigment. Black linear marks on the midsection and chin and circles on the forehead represent tattoos.
The concave reverse, with its fine gouge marks, is pierced around the perimeter with a series of holes for attaching hair.
This type of mask represented a particular character or an ancestral spiritual being.
For a comparable mask, see Collection André Breton & Paul Eluard. Drouot Paris July 2, 1931 n°195 reproduced on plate XXII
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