Circumcision mask

Bidayuh people, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

9 inches, painted wood, leather

We think this would have been used as part of a circumcision ceremony, but this is just a guess. These white-faced masks often have animal fur applied to represent hair on the head, eyebrows, mustache and beard. In this case it’s just the eyebrows which are done with small strips of animal hide. For a small mask it has quite a lot of presence.

sold