Abelam Yam Mask-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Tribal Art
Of bright colors and diminutive form this is what one hopes to find with an Abelam yam mask. That this small cane yam mask is attached to a thin headdress made from sago spathe gives an indication of the how the piece would have appeared sitting at the head of a massive long yam two meters long with a girth of a basset hound. I love the stylized figure with pointed oval “mbia” belly and triangular motifs forming the hocker birthing position—a clear reference to the procreative power of both ancestral and yam spirits. The yam mask is a sweet one—old but still bold. It comes from a New Jersey collection, is 19 ½” (49.5 cm) in height and dates to the early/mid 20th century. SOLD