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1889.34.53

Dance mask representing a crocodile's head with a fish tail.

On display

1889.34.53

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Dance mask representing a crocodile's head with a fish tail.
Long description
Mask representing a crocodile's head with a fish tail. Constructed of turtleshell plates tied together with red cotton strip along joints. Wooden projection-like ears on top, painted red and white. White dot decoration on remainder. Bunch of feathers and piece of light wood tied to nose. Teeth painted white. (Info from David Moore, Cambridge Museum of Arch & Anth).
Person
Field collector Alfred Cort Haddon
Field collector Cambridge Torres Straits Expedition
PRM source Alfred Cort Haddon
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1888
Date collected
?1888
Acquisition information
Donated: 1889
Materials and processes
Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Turtleshell Reptile, Material Bird Feather, Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Material Textile, Material Plant Fibre, Process Tied, Process Carved, Process Painted, Process Woven, Process Stitched
Dimensions
Length 1050 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1889.34.53
Research and responses

Mask representing a crocodile's head with a fish tail. Constructed of turtleshell plates tied together with red cotton strip along joints. Wooden projection-like ears on top, painted red and white. White dot decoration on remainder. Bunch of feathers and piece of light wood tied to nose. Teeth painted white. (Info from David Moore, Cambridge Museum of Arch & Anth).

Search terms: Mask, Religion, Death, Dance

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