Complex Dance Mask
Hooper Bay, Alaska
late 19th/early 20th century
wood, paint, feathers, vegetal fibres, sinew
height: 34 ½"
Inventory # E1387
Sold
acquired by the Diker Collection, now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Provenance
Reportedly collected at Cape Prince of Wales, near Teller, AK
J. E. Stanley Collection
National Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York, NY; cat. no. 5/2777
Ed Primus, New York, NY, 1957
Proctor Stafford Collection, Honolulu, HI
Donald Ellis Gallery, Dundas, ON
The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection, New York, NY
EXHBITED
“Native Paths: American Indian Art from the Collection of Charles and Valerie Diker,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; May 7, 1998–January 2, 2000
“First American Art: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of American Indian Art,” National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY; April 24, 2003–May 29, 2006
“Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection,” Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; February 12–May 17, 2015
“Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection,” Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX; July 5–September 13, 2015
Published
Donald Ellis Gallery catalogue, 1996; pl. 1
Native Paths: American Indian Art from the Collection of Charles and Valerie Diker, Allen Wardwell (ed.), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 1998; pg. 104, pl. 118
First American Art: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of American Indian Art, Bruce Bernstein and Gerald McMaster (eds.), Seattle, WA, University of Washington Press, 2004; pg. 68, cat. no. 9
Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection, David Penney et al., New York, NY, Skira Rizzoli, 2015; pg. 75, pl. 37
Masks were a fundamental component of Yup’ik dance. Performed during winter ceremonials and festivals geared towards cultivating balance between the human and spirit worlds, they were considered powerful agents of communication. Dancers enlivened the character of their particular image through movement, sound and props. Drumming and special songs accompanied the scene, elucidating the experience further through their lyrics. Since each mask represents a unique shamanistic vision, most were discarded following the completion of the particular dance for which they were carved. It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that a number of masks were sold or traded to European and Euro-American collectors. From the late 19th century, Christian missionaries largely prohibited the Yup’ik from masked performances. Today, the revival of dancing is once again an important part of Yup’ik cultural identity.