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Many Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth artists of the 19th century have employed this underlying approach to the human face, and have shaped the eyebrows, eyes, nostrils, mouth and chin in their own stylistic fashions. Each mask carved within this style, as revealed in the carved features, the character of the face and the painted surface, is the unique creation of an individual artist. The sculptural style described here is like the shape or nature of the background canvas on which an artist paints their own style of picture. In addition to the particular representation of the eyes and other facial features in this mask, its maker originally painted the curving planes of the face with designs drawn from the two-dimensional tradition of the area. These have worn and faded over time while the wood darkened, effectively reducing the contrast of the original design. A surface over-painting was applied at some point long ago, perhaps to brighten up the mask or to alter its perceived identity.
Along with the shape of the mouth, the lips, and the style of painted surface designs, the eyes are the stylistic features most readily attributable to particular artists in Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth carvings, as well as in other carving traditions. There are at least four extant masks that bear a very strong relationship in their appearance to this one. One was collected at Neah Bay in 1880, and is now in the National Museum of the American Indian (1/9514) (c.f. Dockstader 1966:131). Also a large mask (13" h.), this one appears to be carved of cedar and differs perhaps significantly in certain details (particularly of the eyes and lips) that suggest a closely related style, though most likely by another carver. James Swan collected a similar large mask in the 1880s that is now in the Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (30210), and one very similar to this is in the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C. (10244) (Holm 1989--letter to E.V. Thaw). A fourth, now in the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, is documented as having been collected from the Haida in 1879 (c.f. Bancroft-Hunt and Forman 1989, p. 15; Herbst 1989, PC), and must have made its way to the Islands of Haida Gwai (Queen Charlotte Islands) by intertribal trade or perhaps warfare. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenancePrivate collection, Maine; Alexander Acevedo, New York; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.312-313.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 328.
Culture
Makah
Mask
Date1850-1880
DimensionsOverall: 14 1/4 × 10 × 8 1/2 in. (36.2 × 25.4 × 21.6 cm)
Object numberT0154
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextMakah and Nuu-chah-nulth artists of the historic period evolved a sculptural style with a unique conceptual dynamic. Beginning in the mid-19th century, certain masks were carved as if they were folded or bent on a centerline following the bridge of the nose, creating a deep overall dimension and a form that has been called prismatic (Holm1972). This mask is a classic example of this sculptural innovation. The brow line forms a major sculptural break that drops back to the cheek/eyesocket level, and the eyes are relief-carved on the surface of the major facial plane. A deeply-carved crease allows for the rounding of the lower cheek area and separates it from the lips and mouth. Set well back from the point of the nose, the lips curve around the conceptual bend in the face and are pushed back into the crease at the base of the cheek bulge.Many Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth artists of the 19th century have employed this underlying approach to the human face, and have shaped the eyebrows, eyes, nostrils, mouth and chin in their own stylistic fashions. Each mask carved within this style, as revealed in the carved features, the character of the face and the painted surface, is the unique creation of an individual artist. The sculptural style described here is like the shape or nature of the background canvas on which an artist paints their own style of picture. In addition to the particular representation of the eyes and other facial features in this mask, its maker originally painted the curving planes of the face with designs drawn from the two-dimensional tradition of the area. These have worn and faded over time while the wood darkened, effectively reducing the contrast of the original design. A surface over-painting was applied at some point long ago, perhaps to brighten up the mask or to alter its perceived identity.
Along with the shape of the mouth, the lips, and the style of painted surface designs, the eyes are the stylistic features most readily attributable to particular artists in Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth carvings, as well as in other carving traditions. There are at least four extant masks that bear a very strong relationship in their appearance to this one. One was collected at Neah Bay in 1880, and is now in the National Museum of the American Indian (1/9514) (c.f. Dockstader 1966:131). Also a large mask (13" h.), this one appears to be carved of cedar and differs perhaps significantly in certain details (particularly of the eyes and lips) that suggest a closely related style, though most likely by another carver. James Swan collected a similar large mask in the 1880s that is now in the Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (30210), and one very similar to this is in the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C. (10244) (Holm 1989--letter to E.V. Thaw). A fourth, now in the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, is documented as having been collected from the Haida in 1879 (c.f. Bancroft-Hunt and Forman 1989, p. 15; Herbst 1989, PC), and must have made its way to the Islands of Haida Gwai (Queen Charlotte Islands) by intertribal trade or perhaps warfare. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenancePrivate collection, Maine; Alexander Acevedo, New York; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.312-313.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 328.
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