mask (dance & live theatre)

Mask constructed from a tortoise shell, with features moulded from a grey putty-like material, pigmented red on the mouth. Two seeds are set into the moulding material for eyes, and fish jaws are set in the mouth. Other animal materials have been applied as decoration: an armadillo tail on the nose, tortoise scutes on either side of the face, two rib bones above the mouth, and caiman scutes on the forehead. At the top of the head is a single vertebra, probably from a reptile. Several pieces of amethyst are set into the mask. One is detached and missing from the nose.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
1996.274
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 237 mm x 154 mm x 83 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
tortoise carapace; bone; tail; teeth; seeds; amethyst; processed material
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
World Gallery > Perspectives > Museums perspective - back wall
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Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

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