Mask

Item number 3595/5 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

Wooden mask depicting a stylized humanoid face. Long fibres are attached to the top of the of the mask; the fibres closest to the face are covered in a dark adhesive(?) similar in colour to the mask's face (paint or stain(?)). The face has a prominent forehead with a thin line portruding down the middle, from the hairline down to the nose where it widens to form the bridge. The nose portrudes off the face and has wide nostrils. Circular eye holes are carved through the wood and are surrounded by slightly raised circles on the mask's front side. There are horizontal indents on the face above the eyes (where the nose begins) and below the bottom of the nose. The face has large, portruding lips that are slightly parted, with a horizontal rectangle carved through the wood in the center of the lips. The back of the mask is concave and undecorated. There are 20 holes carved through the wood along the edge's of the face; all of which are visible from the back side, while only 10 are visible from the front (as the remaining holes are covered by the fibre).

Narrative

Donated to the Kelowna Museum (now the Okanagan Heritage Museum) in 1992 by Don Best, who said it was collected in Liberia c. 1930.

Item History

Made in Liberia during 1930
Owned by Okanagan Heritage Museum before September 14, 2022
Received from Okanagan Heritage Museum (Transferring institution) on September 14, 2022