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Heiltsuk Mask — Heiltsuk Mask
Heiltsuk Mask

Heiltsuk Mask

The Heiltsuk Mask is a traditional wooden ceremonial object created by the Heiltsuk people, an Indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of British Columbia. These masks typically feature stylized animal or supernatural beings carved with distinctive ovoid and formline design elements characteristic of Northwest Coast Indigenous art, often painted in black, red, and white pigments. The mask would have been worn during potlatch ceremonies and other important cultural gatherings to represent spiritual beings and ancestors, serving both ritualistic and social functions within Heiltsuk society.

🔨 Auction Lot

Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

October 11, 2024

Estimate: $10,000$15,000

Lot 29

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About this work

Heiltsuk Mask, Heiltsuk Mask

The Heiltsuk Mask is a traditional wooden ceremonial object created by the Heiltsuk people, an Indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of British Columbia. These masks typically feature stylized animal or supernatural beings carved with distinctive ovoid and formline design elements characteristic of Northwest Coast Indigenous art, often painted in black, red, and white pigments. The mask would have been worn during potlatch ceremonies and other important cultural gatherings to represent spiritual beings and ancestors, serving both ritualistic and social functions within Heiltsuk society.

Seen at
Sotheby's, New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris

Related themes

Ceremonial, Pacific Northwest, Monochrome, 20th Century, Canadian, Wood, Sculpture, Traditional, Spiritual, Northwest Coast Indigenous art, Carved Wood, Sculptural, Sculptural Form, Animal transformation, Archaic, Tribal Art, Ceremonial Mask, Wood Carving, Spiritual and mystical, Mask, Heiltsuk culture, Heiltsuk, Indigenous, Figurative