Mask (Banda)
Datelate 19th - early 20th century
Label TextMasks were a large part of Picasso's collection and one similar to this hung in his home. While he was known to savor such visual hybrid creatures, he also responded to their purpose, saying, "For me the masks were not just sculptures. They were magical objects-intercessors against everything-against unknown, threatening spirits. They were weapons to help free themselves. If we give form to these spirits, we become free."
Object number81.17.179
Provenance[Julius Carlebach Gallery, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 144-5, reproduced pl. 186 (as "banda" mask).
Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions52 1/8 x 11 13/16 x 10 1/4 in. (132.4 x 30 x 26 cm)
MediumWood, pigment
Object number: 70.36
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