Northwest Coast Polychrome Wood Transformation Mask

the outer mask in the form of a bird, probably a raven, carved in two sections, with slightly parted curved beak, rounded nostrils, oval eyerims beneath thick arching brows, surmounted by a crest, parting to reveal an inner mask, with a face, possibly another bird, with sharply downward curving beak, deeply recessed eye sockets and short browline, painted in red, blue and black, with formline details on the interior of the outward face; a wood and twine system of rigging attached.

Acquired from David Cook Gallery, Denver, CO in 2003

Typical wear from age and us but generally very good condition. The mask has been professionally mounted for hanging.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Composed of articulated components which the wearer moves by using a set of strings, the transformation mask is a perfect illustration of ‘the power to disconcert the mind, which the Surrealists sought’ (Walberg, 1965:20). Here, the bird's head opens along its length, allowing one to see a previously hidden humanized face, demonstrating to the onlooker the metamorphosis of one being into another.

In 1950, in the only text which he expressly devoted to Northwest Coast masks, André Breton wrote that ‘these masks are characterized by the property in which certain elements are employed to pivot upon themselves in such a manner that they modify the configuration of the whole, inversing their significance as needed…In prosaic terms it is true that they only obey the command of the human hand, which works the system of strings. Yet the effect produced is no less striking. The spirit of surprise, which plays such a part in the concept of modern art, is put to work here like nowhere else. The virtue of the object under consideration resides above all else in the possibility of the rapid passage from one appearance to another, one significance to another. It is not a static work, which, no matter how great its reputation, must bear comparison with life (and anguish)…Thus the power of the art which animates these masks, and the secret of their profound resonance with us might come from that which, in the lyrical shortcut of an initiation rite- from fish to bird, from bird to man- sums up one of the most vertiginous jumps of human kind by realizing a transformation not only of thought but of action" (André Breton,1950: 36-41).