Dwell Floor Five

A beautiful, somewhat benevolent mask by the Yup'ik (Yupik) aboriginal, indigenous people of South-Western & South Central Alaska. The Yup'ik people, who are related to the Inuit peoples, have a long history of ceremonial mask making. Yup'ik masks were originally and specifically designed by Shamans and made to be worn by these spiritual leaders in Winter tribal dances and sacred ceremonies. Traditionally, the masks were destroyed or discarded after use in these ceremonies. Very few of these masks survived. After Christian contact in the late 19th century, masked dancing was suppressed and the tradition all but died out. As more outsiders settled in Alaska at the turn of the century, masks were made by the Yup'ik people to sell or trade for necessary goods. It is likely that this mask was created some years later for this purpose. In the 20th century, Yup'ik mask had a profound influence on many renowned surrealist artists including, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Leonora Carrington, Victor Brauner, and most notably Andre Breton who was an avid collector of Yup'ik masks. This fantastic anthropomorphic mask is carved of lighter wood and hand painted/ decorated with pigment. The mask seems to represent some sort of smiling, benevolent spirit or character. The mask is from a French collection. We were told that this mask, as well as others in the collection we have listed, was acquired originally in the 1950s-1960s in Alaska and the Yukon territory in Canada but as we have no way to verify or authenticate this. Please note we are listing the masks as decorative and not as actual tribal artifacts...

A fantastic, somewhat sinister appearing mask by the Yup'ik (Yupik) aboriginal, indigenous people of South-Western & South Central Alaska. The Yup'ik people, who are related to the I...

This is a fantastic piece likely made by the Mangetu tribe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is finely detailed and quite large and hefty. These pieces were originally made...

A beautiful, somewhat benevolent mask by the Yup'ik (Yupik) aboriginal, indigenous people of South-Western & South Central Alaska. The Yup'ik people, who are related to the Inuit peo...

A carved wood Iagalagana figure by the Mumuye Peoples of Nigeria. These figures served as guardians and were often made to ensure the personal protection of their individual owners a...

A fantastic and somewhat grotesquely strange mask by the Yup'ik (Yupik) aboriginal, indigenous people of South-Western & South Central Alaska. The Yup'ik people, who are related to t...

Iconic in design and aesthetic. Designed in 1949 by famed Danish designer Hans Wegner and known universally as "The Chair", the JH501 chair is perhaps the mo...

A wonderful, quite large and heavy, colorful Bedu plank mask by the Nafana (Senufo) tribe who reside in the central north-west of Ghana and the north-east of...