Mask
Unknown Artist
ca. 1900
Medium
Wood, pigment, vegetal fiber, iron nails, and feathers
Dimensions
34 1/2 × 22 × 9 1/2 in. (87.6 × 55.9 × 24.1 cm)
Classification
Mask
Culture
Yup'ik, Native American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Valerie-Charles Diker Fund, 2017
Accession Number
2017.718.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking wooden mask, created by an unknown Yup'ik artist around 1900, hails from the Native American communities of southwestern Alaska. Crafted from wood, adorned with pigments, vegetal fibers iron nails, and feathers it measures an imposing 34½ × 22 × 9½ inches. Acquired through the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection now housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, it exemplifies the rich tradition of Yup'ik mask-making. Yup'ik masks profound cultural and spiritual significance, often worn during winter festivals, dances, and hunting rituals to invoke animal spirits, en...