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PILICHAMUNDI MASK
KARNATAKA/KERALA
EARLY 20
TH
CENTURY
Brass
11.75 in (30 cm) wide
$ 3,080 ‒ 4,620
Rs 2,00,000 ‒ 3,00,000
NON‒EXPORTABLE
REGISTERED ANTIQUITY
According to curator and art critic Nima Poovaya‒
Smith, “The animals represented are either predators
like the tiger or an asset to the land like the bull, so
that the choice of a totemic animal incorporates
elements of both appeasement and celebration.”
(George Michell ed.,
Kanara: A Land Apart: The
Artistic Heritage of Coastal Karnataka
, Mumbai:
Marg Publications, Vol. 64 No. 1, September 2012,
p. 99) Figurines, masks, breast plates, and headgear
are all aspects of this tradition which blurs the lines
between the spirit world and everyday living.
Theyyam
rituals in Kerala
Source: Wikimedia Commons