I found this wooden mask yesterday in the storage closet of the antiques showroom that I run on the Upper East Side. It reminded me instantly of my friend Chris and our recent search for "Shrunken Heads" quest. Though this mask has nothing to do with shrunken heads, the tribal quality of it and the large wide nose instantly made me think Chris would like it.
We spent the better part of Monday evening trying to do research on it. Aside from its most recent known provenance; it used to belong to the daughter and former son-in-law of Carolina Herrera, I don't really have much historical information on it. There is a small black tag on the inside of the mask that appears to be an exhibition catelogue number or reference number from a specific collection.
So far we've learned from our web research that the mask, having originally four horns adorned on the top of the head would imply it was a female mask. Three horns usually means it male. One of the horns on this one is missing. The hornbilled bird sitting atop the head is a symbol of fertility with its beak resting on its swollen belly.
Though we found a couple masks that were decorated with similar symbolic elements, none of the shapes of the noses or lips were a close match to help us figure out what area the mask would have been "indigenous" to. Most of the masks we came across all had long, narrow noses as opposed to the large, wide nose and slightly rounded face and fuller lips on this one.
It's been pretty interesting learning about the different african and oceanic tribes and rituals thus far. Can't wait to figure out the exact historical significance and circa date of this one.
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