Elephant masks proclaim support for a ruler. This example was part of a hierarchy of masks owned by a group of leaders. Elephants command attention as the largest land animal on earth. It was the last one to appear in a procession, marking the entrance and exit of all the other masks. While extinct in this region since the beginning of the century, the elephant retains great influence as a metaphor for the grandeur and power of a wild creature who once ruled the earth.
Wood
49 x 10 5/8 x 18 13/16 in. (124.5 x 27 x 47.8 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.697
Provenance: [Harry Franklin, Beverly Hills, California]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1973; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Now on view at the
Seattle Art Museum
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.
