Object Name: Mask (amiilk)

Artist: Unknown

Culture: Tsimshian

Place of Origin: British Columbia, Canada

Date/Era: 19th century

Dimensions: H: 22.50 cm, W: 18.50 cm, D: 13.00 cm

Medium/Materials: Wood, pigment

Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Wellcome Trust.

Accession Number: X65.4273

Masks such as this one were worn by the Tsimshian during fall and winter ceremonies to invoke the power of the generations. The masked dancers performed histories of particular spirits. This mask may depict a shaman, who uses insight to call upon the help and the protection of the spirits. The graphic designs on the face may allude to the transformative power of the mask as the shaman sees beyond the present world.

Source: Gallery text, Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives, 2006.

See also: Marla C. Berns, World Arts, Local Lives: The Collections of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2014.