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Lot Essay
Voici une rare représentation d'un tunghak, un esprit auxiliaire chamanique. Si l’oeil sculpté en demi-lune et les points lumineuses pouvaient représenter la lune et les étoiles, ce type de masque pourrait symboliser une histoire ou un grand évenement. Cependant, un autre masque à la typologie et aux motifs très similaires, actuellement conservé au Dallas Museum of Art (inv. n° 1982.81), est censé représenter l’esprit maléfique de la montagne.
Plusieurs autres masques similaires documentés dans diverses collections publiques ont été acquis entre les années 1870 et 1890.
Cf. une paire de masques analogues, acquise en 1893 par le révérend Sheldon Jackson, est actuellement conservée dans la collection du Sheldon Jackson Museum (Sitka) et publiée dans Brown, S., Spirits of the Water. Native Art Collected on Expeditions to Alaska and British Columbia, 1774-1910, Barcelone, 2000, p. 165, fig. 127.
Pour un autre exemplaire éloquent, voir celui de la collection Lowie (Robert H.) Museum of Anthropology, University of California (Berkeley), publié dans Rousselot, J.-L. et al., Masques eskimo d’Alaska, Genève, 1991, p. 198.
This is a rare representation of a tunghak, an assisting shamanic spirit. It has been suggested that the crescent-shaped eye and the light spots may represent the moon and stars, and that this type of mask may illustrate a widely recognized story or event. However, a very close mask in style and motif, currently in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art (inv. no. 1982.81), is thought to represent the Bad Spirit of the Mountain.
Several other similar masks are documented in various public collections and have been acquired in the period between the 1870s and 1890s.
Cf. a pair of similar masks acquired in 1893 by the Reverend Sheldon Jackson, currently part of the collection of the Sheldon Jackson Museum (Sitka), published in Brown, S., Spirits of the Water. Native Art Collected on Expeditions to Alaska and British Colombia, 1774-1910, Barcelona, 2000, p. 165, fig. 127.
Also for another eloquent comparison see the example in the collection of the Lowie (Robert H.) Museum of Anthropology, University of California (Berkeley), published in Rousselot, J.-L. et al., Masques eskimo d’Alaska, Geneva, 1991, p. 198.
Plusieurs autres masques similaires documentés dans diverses collections publiques ont été acquis entre les années 1870 et 1890.
Cf. une paire de masques analogues, acquise en 1893 par le révérend Sheldon Jackson, est actuellement conservée dans la collection du Sheldon Jackson Museum (Sitka) et publiée dans Brown, S., Spirits of the Water. Native Art Collected on Expeditions to Alaska and British Columbia, 1774-1910, Barcelone, 2000, p. 165, fig. 127.
Pour un autre exemplaire éloquent, voir celui de la collection Lowie (Robert H.) Museum of Anthropology, University of California (Berkeley), publié dans Rousselot, J.-L. et al., Masques eskimo d’Alaska, Genève, 1991, p. 198.
This is a rare representation of a tunghak, an assisting shamanic spirit. It has been suggested that the crescent-shaped eye and the light spots may represent the moon and stars, and that this type of mask may illustrate a widely recognized story or event. However, a very close mask in style and motif, currently in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art (inv. no. 1982.81), is thought to represent the Bad Spirit of the Mountain.
Several other similar masks are documented in various public collections and have been acquired in the period between the 1870s and 1890s.
Cf. a pair of similar masks acquired in 1893 by the Reverend Sheldon Jackson, currently part of the collection of the Sheldon Jackson Museum (Sitka), published in Brown, S., Spirits of the Water. Native Art Collected on Expeditions to Alaska and British Colombia, 1774-1910, Barcelona, 2000, p. 165, fig. 127.
Also for another eloquent comparison see the example in the collection of the Lowie (Robert H.) Museum of Anthropology, University of California (Berkeley), published in Rousselot, J.-L. et al., Masques eskimo d’Alaska, Geneva, 1991, p. 198.
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