Sun Mask
Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia
ca. 1870
wood, paint
height: 16"
Inventory # N4539
Sold
PROVENANCE
Collected by Johan Adrian Jacobsen (1853-1947) on his 1881 expedition to the Northwest Coast
Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, Germany, Cat. No. NA1319, the museum inventory number painted on the reverse; additional paper inventory tag "280" on reverse
Proctor Stafford, Honolulu, Hawaii
Donald Ellis Gallery, New York, NY
William Dana Lippman, Los Angeles, CA
RELATED EXAMPLES
Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, Cat. No. IVA 941 - See: Wolfgang Haaberland, Donnervogel und Raubwal, Munich: Christians Verlag, 1979, pg. 185
The Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY - See: Gilbert T. Vincent, Masterpieces of American Indian Art, New York: Abrams Books, 1995, pg. 70
Ian Christie Clark, Arte Indio Y Esquimal Del Canada, Barcelona: Ediciones Poligrafa, 1970, pg. 61
This important mask represents Tlisala, the Sun, one of the first ancestors of the Kwakwaka’wakw. Sculpted from cedar, the humanoid face is carved with deeply set eye sockets, nostrils, lips and the characteristically hooked nose. Vibrant blue rays emanate around the corona while red and black paint accentuate the forehead, cheeks and chin and might relate to ceremonial face painting.
Families and clans who trace their lineage back to the Sun hold the exclusive right to own and dance Sun Masks and related regalia at a potlatch, great gift-giving feasts during which origin histories were relayed and social hierarchies reaffirmed. Performers appear clothed in blankets covered in iridescent abalone shells, emulating the daily journey of the Sun across the sky. According to legend, it is the Sun’s abalone shell earrings that reflect light to the world. The visual expression of the present mask is striking, brought to life by the song and movement of its wearer.