Kwakiutl Polychromed Wood Mask

of massive convex form, depicting a killer whale, the face, with a broad open mouth, perforated nostrils, and exaggerated oval eyerims beneath arching brows, surmounted by a dorsal fin and tail painted with totemic crest designs, flanked by a pair of hinged fins, each decorated with a stylized raven motif; remnants of string and toggles for articulation, and head cloth.

Collected by Garnet West in 1941, from R. Scott at Alert Bay
Sold Skinner’s Boston, September 2005, lot 227
Private Collection, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above