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Exhibition History"The 45th Annual Winter Antique Show," New York, NY, January 12, 1999 – January 25, 1999.
"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN, October 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2011 - September 23, 2011; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012.
ProvenancePrivate collection, Washington; Pacific Galleries, Seattle, Washington; Flury and Company, Seattle, Washington;Jonathan Holstein, Cazenovia, New York
BibliographyPerriot, Francoise, and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d'Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris, somogy edition d'Art, 1999, p. 111, fig. 87.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.316.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 130.
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. 336.
Culture
Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka)
Mask
Date1820-1870
DimensionsOverall (Includes hair): 12 × 8 × 5 1/4 in. (30.5 × 20.3 × 13.3 cm)
Object numberT0158
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe mask has a bite plug attached inside the upper lip, which the dancer bit down on to hold the mask in place. The plug allowed him to quickly don and off the mask to change from his own identity to that of the mask. The symbolism behind this mask painted designs is not readily apparent, but the black-and red-painted eye sockets bear at least a superficial relationship to the historic and contemporary Coast Salish smokehouse traditions, where the face paint of the participant dancers is either black or red depending on the details of their initiations.Exhibition History"The 45th Annual Winter Antique Show," New York, NY, January 12, 1999 – January 25, 1999.
"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN, October 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2011 - September 23, 2011; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012.
ProvenancePrivate collection, Washington; Pacific Galleries, Seattle, Washington; Flury and Company, Seattle, Washington;Jonathan Holstein, Cazenovia, New York
BibliographyPerriot, Francoise, and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d'Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris, somogy edition d'Art, 1999, p. 111, fig. 87.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.316.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 130.
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. 336.
On View
Not on view
