МАЭ № 571-6

Mask depicting a convivial fellow

Kodiak Eskimos

1843

I.G. Voznesenskii's expedition

wood, paint, sinew, feather, cloth, feather, hair

overall height 107 cm, overall width 85 cm, height of the base 73 cm; mask: height 28 cm, width 14.5 cm

This mask was used in the third act of the play, its upper part representing the backbone of a fish getting ready to spawn. The third dance. From the entrance to the barabora a single (solo) dancer emerges from the left out from a corner which had been covered with an animal skin. The back portion of his torso is covered with a birdskin parka and the front with a kamleika. On his head is an enormously tall hat. He’s wearing a mask. There’s music. There’s quiet and even singing.” (Liapunova 1967: 30) Here the diary account of I. G. Voznesenskii is interrupted, but these and other ritual objects from the Museum’s collection can be linked to the descriptions of similar ceremonies provided in the book by G. I. Davydov as cited in the beginning of this section.

Ethnography of America