Mask

19th century

Kwakiutl, Native American

On View

Native American, Level 1, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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Audio Transcript

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About the Artwork

A Kwakiutl clan chief wore this mask when greeting rival chiefs invited for a feast and potlatch. It reminded the guests of their host's great riches and their indebtedness to his generosity. This Kwakiutl mask represents a mythic ogress of the forest, Dz'onokwa, who skulked through villages at night to steal children to eat. She was also the "master of wealth," represented by the copper of her eyebrows, and so an appropriate symbol for the ceremonial feast.

Title Mask

Artwork Date 19th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Native American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Kwakiutl

Medium Wood, hair and copper

Dimensions Overall: 14 × 11 3/8 × 6 1/8 inches (35.6 × 28.9 × 15.6 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Indigenous Americas

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Henry Ford II Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 80.47

Markings

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Provenance

Free Museum of Science and Art (Philadelphia University Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) no. NA1588;
1908, acquired by exchange by the Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation (New York, New York, USA) no. 1/9323.
Armand Trampitsch (Paris, France);
1978, sold at auction (Ader - Picard - Tajan, Paris, 26 October 1978, lot. 59);
1978, purchased by Andre Scholler (Paris, France).
(Merton Simpson, M. Simpson Gallery Inc., New York, New York, USA);
1980-present, purchased by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA 59, no. 4 (1981): p. 118 (ill.).

Bulletin of the DIA 60, no. 3/4 (1982): pp. 81–91; p. 80 (ill.).

Penney, David W., and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. Southport, Connecticut, 1994, pp. 214-215.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Kwakiutl, Native American, Mask, 19th century, wood, hair and copper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Henry Ford II Fund, 80.47.