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Spirit Mask Costume, Doroe or Dekewar, 20th century
Wood, rattan, basketry, fiber, shell, seeds, feathers
210 x 65 x 41 cm (82 11/16 x 25 9/16 x 16 1/8 in.)
Gift of Marcia and John Friede in honor of Diane B. Wilsey and Harry S. Parker III 2007.44.17

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: "Walter Randall Collection, New York." (Catalog #516, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 174.) EXHIBITIONS: 2005 - New Guinea Art. Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede. De Young Museum, San Francisco, 2005. PUBLICATIONS: 2009 FAM Bulletin entry (unabridged) - "This spirit mask costume known as Doroe or Dekewar was used in the annual jipae ritual, an Asmat mortuary feast that takes place every few years. The Asmat people live on the southwestern coast of New Guinea. The population is dispersed along the shore of the Arafura Sea and inland amidst a dense network of rivers and waterways. Performers masked in costumes such as this one from Jakapis village represent the dead on their way into the spirit world. On the day of the feast, they approach by canoe from the river or emerge from the forest in the late afternoon and travel to the homes of mourning relatives. Then the village men embarrass the spirits in a mock fight so they retreat into the world of the dead, but they stay the night dancing and feasting until sunrise when, finally, the spirits disappear down the river or into the forest. (1) The masks, however, remain stored in the village. They are considered special heirlooms. (2) The typical spirit mask costume includes a painted bodice made by twining the inner bark of a paper mulberry tree and coiling rattan, a painted mask accessorized with ears, eyepieces, a nose, and an upright stick of cassowary feathers, and a skirt of sago fronds. (3) This is a particularly elaborate example collected by a New York-based gallerist named Walter Randel in the late twentieth century along with many other superb examples of New Guinea arts and culture (see fig. 2007.44.79 in this bulletin)." FOOTNOTES (1) Gerardus A. Zegwaard, “Jipae: Festival of the Mask Costume,” Asmat Art: Woodcarvings of Southwest New Guinea. Dirk Smidt, ed. (New York: George Braziller, 1993), 37-38. (2) Zegwaard, “Jipae,” 39. (3) Adrian A. Gerbrands, ed., The Asmat of New Guinea: The Journal of Michael Clark Rockefeller (The Museum of Primitive Art, New York: 1961), 38. 2005 - "These masks were used in an important segment (the doroe feast) of the large-scale je ti cycle of initiation and mortuary ceremonies (the latter also referred to as puri or puriter pokumbui and bi pokomban, spirit mask feast). The masked performers, representing spirits of the deceased, set out on a journey to meet their living descendants and relatives. They approach the village by canoe from the river, in the early hours of the morning. The preparations and the dance performance in the village enable the living to be temporarily reunited with the souls of the deceased and to bid their final farewell to them. For an extensive and richly illustrated firsthand account of the proceedings, see Konrad and Konrad, 1996: 178-214. Related but more recent masks are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. They are from Pupis village on the Wasar River, a northern tributary of the Upper Pomatsj River, and were collected in 1961 by Michael Rockefeller. See Gerbrands, 1967: 322-25. Also see Konrad, Konrad, and Schneebaum, 1981: 169." (Catalog #516, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 174.)

Related Keywords
Dekewar or Doroe Spirit III Parker S Harry Wilsey B Diane honor Gift 174 p 2 Volume 2005 Friede John Marcia Jolika Masterpieces Art 516 Catalog York Randall Walter subgroup Ducur Emari people Asmat village Jakapis Oceania Costume Jaya Irian Papua West Guinea New object Ritual seeds shell fiber basketry Wood fronds sago skirt feathers cassowary stick upright an nose eyepieces ears accessorized mask rattan coiling tree mulberry paper bark inner twining by made bodice Painted 0709200406050473 A360995 2007.44.17 AOA