Mask
| Culture | Torres Strait |
|---|---|
| Title | Mask |
| Date | 19th century |
| Medium | Turtle shell, clam shell, resin, sennit, wood, human hair, and and cassowary feathers |
| Dimensions | Object: 19 1/2 × 18 1/4 × 14 1/4 in. (49.5 × 46.4 × 36.2 cm) Overall: 19 1/2 × 18 1/4 × 14 1/4 in. (49.5 × 46.4 × 36.2 cm) |
| Credit Line | Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 2010.13 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
A mask in the form of a human face, surrounded by shapes with carved, woven patterns, and with three horn-like shapes protruding from the top of the head. The face has a small, upturned mouth full of sharp teeth.
Turtle shell masks such as this example are a unique contribution to world art by islanders of the Torres Strait, the passage between New Guinea and Australia. More than 270 islands, occupying over 18,000 square miles, are located there, but fewer than 20 are inhabited, and turtle shell masks or their depictions on rock paintings are associated with only about half of those. Though the masks have not been made or worn on the islands for more than a century, their unusual material and construction and striking, if little understood, imagery place them among the most recognizable forms of Melanesian art.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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Cite this page
"Mask | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2010.13