Whale Mask

Unknown artist

C. 1850

Wood, Paint, Fibre, Paper

Museum of Anthropology at UBC

A carved wooden mask in the shape of a whale with painted details and attached fins and tail. The mask has eye holes and a mouth opening. A carved wooden mask in the shape of a whale with painted details and attached fins and tail. The mask has eye holes and a mouth opening. Iconographic meaning: Owner called it a Blackfish mask ; killer whale: max'inux. Physical description: Mask or headdress representing a whale with moveable dorsal fin, tail fin, and pectoral fins, a large flat mouth with a movable lower jaw, and cylindrical nostrils. The mask is painted black with concentric circles and ovals on the sides and head in white and red. The face is painted with black eyebrows,bordered in red and white, green around the eyes, black with an abstract white design on the c