15.5 Vintage Sepik River Spirit Mask Papua New Guinea 1971 Wood & Shells

I believe this is the last of my grandmother's Papau New Guinea mask collection. She spent her life traveling the world. She visited Papua New Guinea in 1971. In the above photos, I'm including an excerpt from her handwritten notes to show the date, and a newspaper clipping from 1979.

In the clipping, she's showing her world map, with pins in the places she's been. You can see Oceania in the lower left corner. This mask has spent much of its life in a house without air conditioning, heating or humidity control.

It's also around 60 years old. It shows signs of wear, including small white spots, and some wood missing around the back side of the hanging hole.

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