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.
Mask
19th century
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Native american
Kwakiutl
Wood, hair and copper
Overall: 14 × 11 3/8 × 6 1/8 inches (35.6 × 28.9 × 15.6 cm)
Sculpture
Indigenous Americas
Founders Society Purchase, Henry Ford II Fund
80.47
This work is in the public domain.
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 and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition 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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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Bulletin of the DIA 59, no. 4, 1981, p. 118 (ill.).
Bulletin of the DIA 60, nos. 3/4, 1982, pp. 81–91, p 80 (ill.).
Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. Southport, CT, 1994, pp. 214–215.
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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.
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