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This important Koniag mask is similar in genre to the miniature carving with a serrated halo at the end of a Koniag hand drum's handle donated by Etholen to the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki, in 1846. A similar mas is in the collection of the Museum of Anthropolgy and Ethnology, St. Petersburg, Russia. The plank and hoops are more pronounced in the St. Petersburg example, and the face has horizontal rather than vertical striping. The hoops and the feathers relate to northern examples as well as to Aleut, but the delicacy of statement is pure Koniag.
The St. Petersburg plank mask was reported by its collector, I.G. Voznesenski, as one of a set used in a six-act mystery play, which he witnessed in 1842. It was cast as "Happy Fellow." It is possible that the Thaw Collection example was associated with such mystery plays. Two other similar, but probably later, masks exist today in the collection of the Chateau Musee in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, both donated by Alphonse Pinart in 1872. One features an interesting grouping of animals, including a pair of caribou, painted on its plank. The other has a border of winter caribou fur around the plank, and eleven freestanding pinwheel-like roundels on the hoop around the face, with four wood feathers atop. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"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.
"Treasures from the Thaw Collection," Wheelwright Museum of American Indian Art. Santa Fe, NM, May 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000.
ProvenanceFrench dealer, Paris, France; John Arieta, London, England; George Terasaki, New York City; Chester Dentan, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." The World of Tribal Arts, Vol.II, No.4, (Winter 1995-96): 34.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.94.
Perriot, Francoise and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts de Indiens d’Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d’ Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris: Somogy editions e’Art. 1999, p. 149, fig. 118.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.428.
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. 478.
Culture
Koniag (Alutiiq)
Mask
Datec. 1850
DimensionsOverall: 14 × 7 1/4 × 2 1/4 in. (35.6 × 18.4 × 5.7 cm)
Object numberT0234
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextKoniag and Chugach masks are composed of plain facial features that are differentiated by color patterns. In the Thaw Collection mask, the hoop around the face, the feathers and the light pastel pigments all convey a lightness of mood. Alutiiq (Pacific Eskimo) masks such as this one have none of hte wild exuberance that is so prominent in Central Yup'ik aesthetics. The shamanic assertiveness of the Bering Sea world to the north seems to have had little influence on the Alutiiq Koniag, whose masks belong as much to the self-contained examples of Aleut masking. Colors were applied to decoratively to simple but imaginative forms, as is evident in the Koniag and Chugach masks illustrated in Masques Eskimo d'Alaska, as well as in this example. Patterns of repetitive dots and circles, giving a stippled effect akin to tattooing, distinguish some of these masks; others exhibit zones od coloration, as in the Thaw Collection mask. Some of the small-scale patterns recall elegant embroidery and decorative applique on Aleut traditional bags and small cases. Animal pictographs, though rare, are non-expressionist in style, yet full of character.This important Koniag mask is similar in genre to the miniature carving with a serrated halo at the end of a Koniag hand drum's handle donated by Etholen to the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki, in 1846. A similar mas is in the collection of the Museum of Anthropolgy and Ethnology, St. Petersburg, Russia. The plank and hoops are more pronounced in the St. Petersburg example, and the face has horizontal rather than vertical striping. The hoops and the feathers relate to northern examples as well as to Aleut, but the delicacy of statement is pure Koniag.
The St. Petersburg plank mask was reported by its collector, I.G. Voznesenski, as one of a set used in a six-act mystery play, which he witnessed in 1842. It was cast as "Happy Fellow." It is possible that the Thaw Collection example was associated with such mystery plays. Two other similar, but probably later, masks exist today in the collection of the Chateau Musee in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, both donated by Alphonse Pinart in 1872. One features an interesting grouping of animals, including a pair of caribou, painted on its plank. The other has a border of winter caribou fur around the plank, and eleven freestanding pinwheel-like roundels on the hoop around the face, with four wood feathers atop. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"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.
"Treasures from the Thaw Collection," Wheelwright Museum of American Indian Art. Santa Fe, NM, May 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000.
ProvenanceFrench dealer, Paris, France; John Arieta, London, England; George Terasaki, New York City; Chester Dentan, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." The World of Tribal Arts, Vol.II, No.4, (Winter 1995-96): 34.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.94.
Perriot, Francoise and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts de Indiens d’Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d’ Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris: Somogy editions e’Art. 1999, p. 149, fig. 118.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.428.
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. 478.
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