Collections: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands: Mask (Pwemwe)

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Mask (Pwemwe)

This striking mask, with its grimacing mouth, bean-shaped eyes, and bulbous, hooked nose, was made in the northern part of New Caledonia. The thick, shiny patina is evidence of the piece's age and considerable use. The holes around the perimeter were used to affix the beard and wig of human hair, a hat, feathers, and other elements of the costume that completely draped to the knees the dancer who wore it. Little is known about the function of these masks, however, though it is usually said that they represent the spirits of ancestors returning to the village. They may have been associated with now-extinct secret men's associations or used in social control.


• Culture: Kanak
• Medium: Wood
• Place Made: New Caledonia, France
• Dates: 19th or early 20th century
• Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. (26.7 x 11.4 x 9.5 cm)
• Collections: Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 42.243.19
• Credit Line: By exchange
• Image: Overall, 42.243.19_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Kanak. Mask (Pwemwe), 19th or early 20th century. Wood, 10 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. (26.7 x 11.4 x 9.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, By exchange, 42.243.19 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 42.243.19_SL1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Mask fashioned from long, narrow, carved piece of dark wood. The facial features of the mask are carved at the center of the wood. Forehead swells above a continuous V-shaped ridge which defines the eyebrows, eyes are closed (and not perforated), nose is bulbous with spherical nostrils, and mouth is open. Around the perimeter of the piece of wood are numerous small holes; at top center there is one larger hole. There are holes at top and bottom for fastening.These masks were traditionally used for funerary ceremonies of Chief's and may have been associated with the ancestor god Gomawe. In its complete form, the mask might have been adorned with a beard of human hair and a headdress surmounted by a mass of human hair cut from the heads of mourners. The masker was able to see through the curved mouth, and would wore a cloak made of pigeon feathers. The mask sometimes was painted black, the color painted on the bodies of mourners and symbolic of the roads leading to the land of the dead. Condition: Good. Perimeter of wood is irregular and chipped. Many of the small holes have been broken through to the edge of the wood. The proper left bottom corner is chipped. Two cracks at the top of the wood extend into the carved area of the mask.