Elephant mask for Dye ensemble

Women and children are asked to leave before this type of mask emerges from the sacred forest. Despite being covered by heavy raffia suits, the masker enacts impressive leaps to convey a vision of unleashed energy drawn from the wilderness. In the early twentieth century, this ensemble had great influence over decision making, more recently, they continue to perform at funerals as a way of proclaiming allegiance to certain families.

Wood with pigment

7 1/2 x 11 7/8 in. (19 x 30.2 cm)

L.: 26 3/4 in.

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.252

Provenance: [Galerie Le Corneur Roudillon, Paris, France]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 72.

Los 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., p. 148, reproduced fig. K-5 (as elephant mask).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Selections From The Katherine White Collection, March 12-August, 1987

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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