mask

Wooden mask with looped beak nose and beard fringe composed of coconut fibre which is suspended from several perforations around the lower rim of the mask. The eyes are blacked with paint and dotted with white and green paint. At the top of the mask there is a suspension loop

Dance Mask, Murup, Ramu River, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea This dance mask from the coastal delta of the Ramu River in northern Papua New Guinea is in exceptionally good condition, and still preserves its bearded mane of plant fibre hair all around. Among the coastal peoples of the Sepik and Ramu deltas, masks such as this are known as murup, and are used in the initiation ceremonies that are performed when adolescent boys come of age. The name murup also means ‘flute’, and the mask and flute are collectively understood as the physical and sonic parts of a supernatural forest-dwelling monster called Murup. Murup is believed to kill women and children on sight, and during the initiation ceremony itself, the boys are symbolically eaten by this monster, to be reborn as men. One of the new men then bursts forth from the initiation house wearing their murup mask, and the women and children must flee for their lives. Wood, pigment, vegetable fibre. Early 20th Century. Collected on the Ramu by Lord Moyne during his 1936 expedition to New Guinea.

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.

The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk