Description:

Central Asia, Nepal, ca. mid-20th century CE. A hand-carved wooden face mask intended for wear during ceremonial masquerades, perhaps as a representation of a local spirit. The paddle-shaped vizard features a pair of protruding tubular eyes, a sloped nose with perforated nostrils, a rectangular mouth with bar-shaped teeth, and slender steel panels pinned along the chin, upper lip, forehead, and lower mask periphery. Lengths of twisted animal hair are secured beneath the steel panels to act as facial hair and a coiffure, and remains of decorative red pigment are visible along the obverse. Two perforations along the verso show how the mask was worn on one's head. Size: 9.1" W x 13.125" H (23.1 cm x 33.3 cm)

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#172920

  • Condition: Losses, tearing, and fraying to some facial hair cords as shown, with a perforation on either side of nose, and chipping around peripheries along verso. Slight bending and oxidation to steel panels, with some steel pins raised, fading to pigment, and light staining across brow. Nice preservation to facial form. String stretching across verso for mounting and display purposes. Fragmentary Nepalese wax import seal present on verso.

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October 9, 2022 10:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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