YU’PIK MASK Wood, feathers and pigments - 39 cm Alaska Tunghâk, Moon mask. Frederick J. Dockstader (Former Director of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York City, from 1960 to 1975), has written an essay on this very mask: “(This mask) was probably used in the annual Messenger Feast ceremony. The general form supports its identification as a Moon mask. The Tunghâk who controls the supply of game lives in the moon; the two black animals represent his spirit dogs... The mask represents a wish for plenty of food, animals and a continued generosity of the people of the spirit world... It was probably made between 1880 and 1900. The mask is in excellent condition, with the normal wear for such objects.” November 22, 1989. Provenance: According to Frederick J Dockstader in his study, collected circa 1888 by J.A. Jacobsen or Rudolph Neumann Acquired by Julius Konietzko in Hamburg in the 1940s. European private collection By descent