murik mask, Brag sebug, Papua New Guinea

Alain Schoffel, Tours
Marcia and John Friede, New York, acquired from the above

Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, October 15, 2005 - February 14, 2010

John A. Friede et al. (ed.), New Guinea Art. Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, San Francisco, 2005, pp. 71 (vol. 1), 39 and 90 (vol. 2), cat. 45

Very good condition overall; vertical age cracks on front and reverse, some losses to ridged rim on bottom of mask, minor chips on bird, losses to proper left inside rim; nicks and scratches, wear and tear, two drill holes on reverse for mounting, fiber attachment on top broken and fragile; exceptionally fine aged patina covered with red pigment.
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This mask was created by an artist from the Murik people on the Murik Lagoon off the Coastal Sepik River in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. Friede (2005: 90, text to cat. 45) notes: "This is a classic Murik mask of exceptional quality. It represents a specific war spirit or spiritman (brag) named Emang (Lipset 1997: 136). When it and other sacred Murik objects were carved, the artist sequestred himself in the men's house, employed magic leaves, and recited incantations called timits. [...] Bien and Avis 1975: 17 state: 'All important [Murik] masks have the spider design occuring on them somewhere. The spider is the perfect designer. The fine, precise lines of its web and the intricacy of the design it produces symbolize the kind of perfection the carver himself is aiming at.'

"The role of these masks in headhunting is described as follows: 'Brag masks [masqueraders] came down from the houses. They were richly decorated and shook as they surrounded the head [of the headhunted victim]. The spirit [mask] slurped at the blood about the head and then shoved it to the next mask. Blood dripped from the mouths of the masks' (Schmidt in Lipset 1997: 197)."