mask

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Object Type
Museum number: Oc1855,1220.169
Description: Mask made of turtle-shell plates which have been bent to form an elaborate human face, and sewn into place with fibre; inlaid shell eyes.
Production ethnic group
Production date: 19thC (before 1855)
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Mer
Materials: turtle-shell; shell; fibre
Technique: sewn; inlaid
Dimensions: Length: 40 centimetres
Curator's comments: See Simpson 2021 for an argument why this object may have been collected by Frederick Whittle.; Description from Extracts from the British and Medieval Register 1757-1878, p.184: 169. A mask made of tortoise shell long and narrow. L. 16 in. W. 9 inches. From Murrays Island, Torres Straits.; This mask is discussed in Haddon's 'Expedition to the Torres Strait', vol 4, p.298, who suggests that it was of the kind used in funeral ceremonies; an accompanying sketch by a Torres Strait islander shows a mask being worn on top of the head, and certainly the shell eyes on this mask would prevent a wearer from seeing through them. An original label on the top of the mask says 'A Tortoise Shell mask from Murray's Island, Torres Strait' (best guess - the label is faded). (MOH,4/1996).; Comment from Jude Philp, Senior Curator at the Macleay Museum in 2009 'wooden and turtle-shell masks often have 'eye' holes through the nose element'. This would enable the wearer of the mask to see out.
Bibliographic references: Sculthorpe et al. 2015 / Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation (p.200, fig.78); National Museum of Australia 2015 / Encounters. Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum (p.67); Mack 1994 / Masks: The Art of Expression (p.60, fig. 33); Simpson 2021 / The Royal Navy in Indigenous Australia, 1795-1855. Maritime Encounters and British Museum Collections. (p.244)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 1993, London, Hayward Gallery, Aratjara: Aboriginal Art from Australia 1998, University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Torres Strait Islanders 2015 23 Apr-2 Aug, London, BM, G35, Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation 2015-2016 27 Nov-28 Mar, Canberra, National Museum of Australia, Encounters
Condition: Good
Acquisition name
Previous owner
Acquisition date: 1855
Acquisition notes: Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty through Sir John Liddell, C.B. (the Museum of Haslar Hospital)
Department: Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Registration number: Oc1855,1220.169

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