Decorated with a tight cassowary feather headdress, Abelam, East Sepik, PNG

This is a wonderful old yam mask, from Wosera, the southern Abelam. It is carved from a light balsa-like wood. The mask has an expressive mouth, only visible when reclining on the yam, or held high. Some of the paint is enamel, suggesting it originates in the 1950s.

Collected by Ed Boylan in early 1970s.