On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Mask
Pacific Northwest Coast tribes share foundational mythologies and cultural practices. The annual gift-giving feast known as potlatch maintains harmony within these communities, with songs and masked performances that embody animal ancestors and commemorate the accomplishments and goals of participants and their families. Masks embellished with feathers, fur, and cloth are donned to dramatize primordial stories and conduct rituals that validate the mask owner’s family history and status before witnesses.
This artist mastered a distinctive Tlingit aesthetic of exaggerated facial proportions. The red and green features may denote a particular spirit being. Given that there are no eye openings, it may have been worn as part of a headdress assemblage.
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