Half-man half-animal mask

Beneath a large forehead, with small pierced eyes, a chubby face and a curious round mouth, our mask has four appendages attached directly to the face, representing a pair of hands and feet.

^Jacobsen1, collecting in southwest Alaska, claimed that Angallkut (Angakkuq) shamans used this mask to facilitate spring hunting, and that the legs and hands signified the power of the Angalkut, supported by Tunghat (or Tuunraq) spirits worldwide.

The face is divided by the center of two colors and according to Catherine ^Bihl2: On Nunivak Island, spirits are divided into two distinct categories. The Tunghat, who populate the celestial spheres, and the Ichzit, who haunt the center of the island, goblins sometimes emitting sinister rumblings as they stamp their feet on the rocks. They are both human and animal.

The blue-black color, reserved on the island of Nunivak for the spiritual realm, is present on half of the mask, while red, the color of the “common”, represents the human figure.
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1- Ann Fienup-Riordan 1996. The living tradition of Yup’ik mask, your Way of making prayer.

University of Washington Press Seatle & London, p.78

2- Rousselot, Abel, Pierre & Bihl.1991 Eskimo mask from Alaska. Edition Amez. p.288

Price: €7,800