Vintage Timor Mask, Indonesia, Featured in Spiderman Movie (1203BEK) $1750
$1,750.00
H: 20.75” W: 8” D: 8.75” | FOR SHIPPING INFORMATION CONTACT US AT 213-568-3030
This large rare vintage Timor ancestor mask has huge eyes, a horsehair beard, an inverted curved U-shaped mouth and two small half-circle ears and is an ancestral carving said to protect living relatives. In excellent condition considering its age, storage and use, its black patina results from its storage above the hearth and comes with a museum-quality metal stand. This mask is one of 3 of our masks featured in the original 2002 Spiderman movie pictured on the wall in the collection of Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin.
Description
This rare, vintage spirit mask is from Timor in Indonesia. Their 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 as ancestors require sustenance, respect and attention (i.e. offerings), while humans seek advice, good fortune, health and offspring. (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. Masks, effigies and fetishes are protective and magic objects used throughout Indonesian island art in what has been called “the ritual manipulation of fate.” (Barbier) Considered tribal, ethnic and folk-art most masks are based on animism and local beliefs. 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 and is part of the VA Tribal Art Collection.
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.
Additional information
| Place of Origin | Indonesia |
|---|---|
| Period | Vintage |
| Date | 1920-1980 |
| Materials and Technique | Wood |
| Dimensions (inches) | Mask: Ht: 10.375” W: 7.5” D:4.25” On stand Ht: 20.75” W: 8” D: 8.75” |
| Dimensions (metric) | Mask Ht: 26.35cm W: 19.05cm D: 10.79cm On stand Ht: 52.7cm W: 20.32cm D: 22.22cm |
| Weight | On Stand 11 lbs |
| Condition | Excellent, fine patina demonstrating age and use |
| Item Number | 1203UKM |
| Shipping Box Size | This item is oversized. Call 213-568-3030 for shipping cost. |
