Mask, Sepik River region Papua New Guinea Height: 12.5 cm Provenance: Richard Kelton Collection, USA Richard Kelton Collection, USA Richard Kelton (1929-2019), a passionate explorer, spent nearly fifty years sailing the Pacific Ocean from his California home of Marina Del Rey. During his voyages, he collected over five thousand works of art representing the history and culture of the regions he crossed. Among these is this miniature mask, whose small size suggests that it was held in the hand or attached to a garment for ceremonial purposes. The marked facial features, intensified by the play of reliefs, are concentrated on a hollowed cordiform plane, emphasizing and intensifying the expression of the almond-shaped eyes. In keeping with the classical stylistic canons of this cultural region, the emphasis is placed on the prominent, high-relief nose, with its strongly dilated, perforated nostrils. The mouth, with its upturned corners, is set in the lower part, sketching a slight smile at the birth of the receding chin. The ears, signified by two lateral elements, are pierced so that ornaments can be attached.