M0012691: Carved wood "spirit mask" with distorted face worn by an Inuit healer

Date:
September 1952
Reference:
WT/D/1/20/1/113/45
Part of:
Wellcome Trust Corporate Archive
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view M0012691: Carved wood "spirit mask" with distorted face worn by an Inuit healer

Contains: 1 image

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In copyright

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Credit

M0012691: Carved wood "spirit mask" with distorted face worn by an Inuit healer. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Also known as

Previous title, replaced August 2022: Mask used by 'Eskimo' shaman in causation of illness.

Description

Photograph of a wooden mask from Alaska carved to represent the face of a helping spirit. It would have been worn during ritual dances to ensure good hunting and good health. It was acquired by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum at an unknown point and accessioned in 1952 (accession number R20/1952). It is now held by the Science Museum (object number A645097).

Publication/Creation

September 1952

Physical description

1 photograph glass plate negative; 8.3 x 10.8 cm

Related material

Wellcome Collection holds the accession register which provides an entry for the item: R20/1952

Copyright note

Copyright is held by Wellcome Collection

Notes

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2022.

Terms of use

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.

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