Mask depicting Nułmała

ca. 1830

Nułmała, also called the Foolish or Reckless Dancer, is an esteemed masked dance privilege of some Kwakwaka'wakw families, chosen in spite of this being's erratic behavior, unusual facial features and unkempt appearance. The artist of this maks saw a resemblance between Nułmała and the lion carved on the timbers of early American sailing ships - its large nose, deep-set eyes, curving brow, and a fringe of cedar bark resembling a mane encircling the face.

Red cedar, paint, horse hair, copper, opercula, root

10 3/8 x 8 1/8 x 5 7/8 in. (26.35 x 20.64 x 14.92 cm)

Gift of John H. Hauberg

91.1.27

Provenance: [J. J. Klejman, New York], until 1960; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1960-1991; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1991

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Native Visions: Northwest Coast Art, 18th Century to the Present, Oct. 1, 1998 - Jan. 31, 1999.

Bellingham, Washington, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Arts of a Vanished Era" , June 12 - Oct. 31, 1968.

New York, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Two Hundred Years of North American Indian Art, 1971.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Box of Daylight, Sept. 15, 1983 - Jan. 8, 1984.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Vancouver Art Museum, Spirit of the Earth: Masks by David Neel, Mar. 13, 1993 - Mar. 6, 1994* (Stanford, California, Stanford Museum of Art, Dec. 1994 - Mar. 1995; Thunder Bay, Ontario, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Apr. - June, 1995; Ottawa, Ontario, Canadian Museum of Civilization, June - Oct. 1995; Yukon Territory, Yukon Arts Center, Oct. - Dec. 1995). [*mask exhibited only until Dec. 15, 1993.]

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Art: The Stories We Carry, Oct. 20, 2022 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesGlass, Aaron, Editor and Curator, Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast: Selections from the American Museum of Natural History, 2010, published by Bard Graduate Center, illus. pg151

Penney, David W., Arts Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord, Paris: Terrail, 1998, pp.190, 192

Brown, Steven C., Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Century, Seattle Art Museum, 1998, pg. 64

Vincent, Gilbert T., The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, Antique, Vol CXLVIII, no. 1 (July 1995): p.62, pl.I.

Vincent, Gilbert T., Masterpieces of American Indian Art, New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.71

The Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1995, pg. 234

Selected Works, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 70

Holm, Bill, Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art, Seattle Art Museum, University of Washington Press, 1983, no. 34, illus.

Feder, Norman, Two Hundred Years of North American Indian Art, Praeger in association with Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1971, p. 36, #20

Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Arts of a Vanished Era, Bellingham, Washington, 1968, p.35.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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