Naxnox mask; Tsimshian, probably Nishga; ca. 1830-1860<BR> Wood, paint, glass mirror, metal fasteners; h. 29,1 cm., w. 20 cm., l. 28 cm.;<BR> RMV 2935-1; ex-Claude Lévi-Strauss private collection; museum purchase at Hotel Drouot auction, Paris 1951<BR> <BR> Tsimshian peoples have their territory in northern British Columbia, along the coast and barrier islands as well as far up the valleys of the major rivers in the region, as much as 200 miles inland. The Skeena River was home to the Gitk’san, or people of the Skeena, while the Nishga made their villages along the Nass River, from its mouth to far up its fabled valley. Several ceremonial traditions that spread across the Northwest Coast are said to have originated on the Nass River, which formed one of the major migration routes to the ice-free coast at the end of the last major ice age over 9000 years ago. The Coast Tsimshian made their villages on the barrier islands outside and to the south of these major rivers.<BR> <BR> The initiated participants of the high-ranking Naxnox (Human Spirit) ceremonial make visible the spirits that live in the background of the physical world. Masks worn in these rituals manifest the various powers of the spirit world, often combining traits of animals, humans, and spirit personages. The dancers who bring these images to life have inherited the names of these various spirits, humans, and creatures as well as the rights to impersonate them.<BR> <BR> The identity of this mask has not been recorded, but the drama inherent in the image is apparent through the patina of age on its surface. The eyes are inlaid with pieces of glass mirror, and articulated, or made to move mechanically. The eyes can be rotated up and down with control strings to simulate the opening and closing of the eyes. The inlaid mirrors catch and reflect the firelight, creating a bright flash in the viewer’s eyes as the vision of the mask passes over them. The lower jaw is also articulated, controlled by a cord that raises and lowers the jaw in front of the painted teeth. These features may appear simple to our over-stimulated modern eyes, but in a shadowy, firelit big-house, manipulated by a skilled dancer, masks such as this have an impressive capacity to bring life to the wooden image, and make real the spirits that the ceremonial is intended to honor and venerate.<BR> <BR> The sculpture of this or any mask combines the personal style of the carver with the regional or tribal style practiced by all the carvers of the surrounding villages over a wide-ranging area. Tsimshian-speaking artists formed their face sculptures with certain fairly consistent ways of representing the three-dimensional characteristics of human and animal faces. These general traits were formed primarily with the initial carving tool, the elbow adze, and largely in the first hour or so of work in forming a mask. The traditional master/apprentice system reinforced these traits as the master demonstrated ‘how the work was done.’ Related but recognizably different traits were employed and formed in the sculptures created by Tlingit and Haida artists as well, and one can learn to recognize the variations and differentiate between many carvings created by these three northern Northwest Coast groups. In some examples, though, the differences are so subtle that tribal identification becomes difficult, particularly in carvings that originated near the borders between tribal groups, where sculptural influences move back and forth across such boundaries.<BR> <BR> Characteristics of Tsimshian style in this mask include a fairly straight profile in which the bulge of the forehead, the end of the nose, and the projection of the chin are nearly aligned. The long, thin eyebrows, wide nostril flares, bony cheek structures, and thin, drawn-back lips are also characteristic of work from this area. The size of the mask and the depth and precision of the sculpture combine with characteristics of the painting to indicate that the mask was most likely created in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The use of short red lines, called dashing, across the forehead, eyebrows, and eye sockets of the mask is a trait that appears to have become popular among Tsimshian artists in this time period. Fine black lines are used to represent a moustache on the upper lip, and the remnants of small nail holes surrounding the point of the chin suggest that a patch of animal hide and fur was once attached to represent a small beard. Facial hair was a more common trait on the Northwest Coast than among many other North American native groups.<BR> <BR> Steven C. Brown; 2015<BR> em. Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA<BR> <BR> <BR> Naknok masker met beweegbare ogen en mond. Een naknok-masker vertegenwoordigt de naam van een prominente bovennatuurlijke geest. Deze geest heeft bijzondere lichamelijke of persoonlijkheidskenmerken, of wordt als vreemdeling beschouwd, als blanke of iemand van een andere stam. De naam wordt als individueel c.q. familiebezit aangemerkt. Als de eigenaar deze naam aanneemt, dan voert hij met het masker een dans op waarbij de geest wordt uitgebeeld die zijn naam overdraagt aan de nieuwe bezitter. De bovennatuurlijke kracht wordt op dramatische wijze uitgedrukt in de dans en kan bestaan uit het weer tot leven wekken van de doden, met name vermoorde mensen. De beweegbare oogleden zouden daarop kunnen duiden. De dramaturgie gaat zover dat in sommige naknokdansen de geest het danshuis in tweeën laat barsten, hetgeen de Tsimshian de Hemelspleet noemen. Daarvoor wordt een danshuis gebouwd waarvan de ene helft op een beweegbaar fundament wordt geplaats die op het juiste moment van de vaste helft wordt weggetrokken, de toeschouwers in schrik en verwondering verzettend. De bouwers van deze huizen en houtsnijders van maskers en marionetten met beweegbare elementen zijn georganiseerd in een geheim genootschap, Gitsonk genaamd, en de leden staan in hoog aanzien. Bij falen van de voorstelling worden zij echter publiekelijk uitgejouwd, een zware straf in kleine gemeenschappen.<BR> Dit masker is voorzien van gaten en leren veters om gedragen te worden.<BR> Het masker mist de versiering die op en rond het hoofd was aangebracht, hetrgeen blijkt uit de reeks van gaatjes in de drie randen.