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Masquerade costume with two headdresses

20th century

Masqueraders wearing fiber costumes usually serve as part of a Pende initiation cycle. Protruding cylindrical eyes signal a lesson in the awareness of death, uncertainty and difficulty for young initiates. Some masqueraders take aggressive stances, which would be reinforced by the bristling ruffs and feather corona that complete the multistriped net body suit.

Feathers, fiber, raffia, pigment, fur

72in. (182.88cm)

wristlet: 12in. diameter x 3.5 high

pants: 41in. x 14in.

shirt: 24in. x 56in.

head: 15in. h x 14in. w

Gift of Mark Groudine and Cynthia Putnam

95.131

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Order and Border, February 26, 2010 - August 28, 2011

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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