Mask
| Culture | Tolai |
|---|---|
| Title | Mask (Lor, Lorr) |
| Date | 19th–20th century |
| Medium | Human bone, clay, pigment, fiber, and and hair |
| Dimensions | Object: 10 1/2 × 8 × 4 in. (26.7 × 20.3 × 10.2 cm) Overall: 10 1/2 × 8 × 4 in. (26.7 × 20.3 × 10.2 cm) |
| Credit Line | Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 85.68 |
| This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request. | |
Tolai men, historically, took part in men’s societies, one of the best known being the Iniet. While the German colonials tried to suppress this old society, it was able to continue by going underground. As a result of this suppression and the society’s secret nature, it is unclear how it worked before European contact. One standard practice of the Iniet was the commemoration of ancestors, an important task, as the ancestors would, if properly commemorated, help the living.
One way of commemorating an ancestor was with a lor mask, which appeared only at night along with drums and singing. A lor mask represents an important ancestor and was created with the frontal facial bones and the hair of the ancestor. While these objects are no longer used by the Tolai peoples for their original function, they are kept and retain powerful spiritual connections to ancestors.
1985, Indiana University Art Museum purchase from John (Jack) Edler, Tiffany, WI
Unidentified date, John (Jack) Edler acquires, Tiffany, WI [1]
Unidentified dates, unidentified owner(s), possibly in Marquesas Islands and/or other places [2]
Notes
[1] We do not know when or under what circumstances John (Jack) Edler acquired this Lor mask (also spelled Lorr), as he did not share any further provenance information with the museum.
[2] We do not yet know how many changes in ownership transpired between when this artwork was first made and owned to when Jack Edler acquired it. This absence of documentation on ownership history within the cultures where the artworks were made and used is part of a larger history of collecting practices that did not record prior ownership among communities of origin.
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=85.68