Yuat River, Lower Sepik River, PNG, 19th/early 20thC.

This is a fine old mask with a raw energy and many layers of different paints. The visage is strong, with a heavy brow, pierced eyes surrounded by red, a double-tiered nose and small mouth near the sharp, triangular chin. Many holes surround the mask edge. One side of the mask was broken and it has been village repaired (rusty nails and resin extant). The mask is old and well used but not stone-carved.

Ex-collection Ed Boylan, Cairns, Australia who owned this mask for more than 40 years. He acquired it in Brisbane from a small collection and the mask was said to have been collected by Rev. Albert Lambton (1887-1979), an Australian missionary stationed at Dogura, PNG, from 1923 to 1937.