TYPE: A Nepalese wooden mask

CIRCA:  Early 1900’s (or possibly before)

A hand carved wooden mask with a powerful yet subtle, primitive, ‘otherworldly’ presence; from a middle-hills village in western Nepal. Mask such as this have their origins in age-old shamanistic and animistic traditions and were often representations of local spirits. Believed to contain protective powers they were hence considered auspicious. Dependent on their intended purpose they could be used either for ritualistic purposes, in ceremonial dances, or simply kept inside homes from generation to generation as a representation of an ancestral presence. (From a private collection established in Kathmandu in the early 1970’s.)

MATERIAL: Wood

HEIGHT: 0.24m

WIDTH: 0.15m

DEPTH: 0.05m

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