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Object Name: Mask
Artist: Unknown
Place of Origin: New Caledonia, Melanesia
Date/Era: 19th century
Dimensions: H: 188.00 cm, W: 55.00 cm, D: 25.50 cm
Medium/Materials: Wood, barkcloth, human hair, feathers, bamboo, cotton thread, plant fiber
Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Wellcome Trust.
Accession Number: X65.7799
Animal and human attributes merge in this monumental mask featuring bird feathers and human hair. Masks of this type were considered the dwelling places for the souls of the heroes of the past. Each mask had a different personal name, yet they all represented forms of a single deity, a water spirit associated with the perpetuation of the lineage.
Source: Marla C. Berns, World Arts, Local Lives: The Collections of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2014.