Vintage Rare Published Ancestor Mask, Featured in 1st Spiderman Movie, Indonesia, Timor (1203)

Description

This rare, vintage spirit mask is from Timor in Indonesia. There, animism is characterized by ritual exchanges between individuals or social groups with ancestral and fertility spirits having a close reciprocal link between the deceased and the secular world. Ancestors require sustenance, respect and attention through offerings, while humans seek advice, good fortune, health and offspring. Masks are protective and magic objects used throughout Indonesian island art in what has been called “the ritual manipulation of fate.” (Barbier)  Carved ancestor masks and effigies are a form of ancestor worship made to honor ancestors  as well as ritual offerings for the departed to occupy and rest during village visits. Household ceremonies are performed in a room called “the womb” where beams rising to the roof struts  function symbolically as an axis mundi. Meaning “pillar of the world”, an axis mundi is a tree, mountain, pole or any tall object that literally or figuratively connects the earth directly to heaven. It is the cosmic center of the world and a conduit to spirits and ancestral ghosts watching over the house.

Timorese masks were rarely seen in the West or even in Bali until the mid-1970s, but by the 1980s Javanese influences were noted in the treatment of the face, teeth and eyes. This mask was collected in Bali in the 1970s.

Published in Douglas L. Congdon-Martin and Jim Piper, Masks of the World, Atglen, Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1999, p.103

A unique addition to any folk-art collection, this mask was featured in the collection of three masks in the collection of the Green Goblin in the Spiderman 2002 movie along with the Timor Ancestor Mask (#1203) and the Dyak Hudoq Mask (#1314) in the VA collection.

The three masks look spectacular together, each mounted on a museum quality metal stand. We cannot show the movie clip here due to copyright issues but can provide it as part of the documentation of the pieces.One of 3 of our masks featured in the original 2002 Spiderman movie, it appeared on the wall in the collection of Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. Screen shots of its use in the movie are available upon request.

Click here for the blog Indonesian Dance Masks (Topeng): Spiritually Connecting the Community

Sources

Jean Paul Barbier, Indonesian Primitive Art: Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines from the Collection of the Barbier-Müller Museum, Geneva, Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art, 1984.