Sepik River mask

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Mwai Mask, 20th century
Melanesia, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea
Wood

Purchased from Gallery 43, London with support from the National Fund for Acquisitions, 1965
Museum number 1965-43

This mask is a representation of a mythical ancestral spirit. Such masks were revered in the belief that spirits could be consulted through them. When worn it would have been attached to the front of a conical basketry framework decorated with leaves and flowers.