East Asia

Unusual yam mask

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea

Q:  Got this in the family 80 years ago. It is 14” wide and 15″ high with a double face that seems to go on the head.  Alex, 690

A: This is an unusual form of woven yam mask from the the Asmat culture of Papua New Guinea. If you go to Google Images with these key words you will see many woven masks that utilize the same materials and colors. They are used to celebrate the yam harvest which is a very important part of their agricultural existence. I suggest you do some research on this unusual design. If we’re lucky maybe one of our readers will recognize the design and comment on it.  B

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