Mask (Rom)
1 of 3
Object Label
One of the main sources of lighting fuel in the colonial period and well into the nineteenth century was whale oil. Consequently, hunting for whales was an important part of the economy. The long ocean voyages that characterized this enterprise afforded the sailors a great deal of free time, during which they sometimes made crafts out of unusable parts of the whale such as the teeth. In nautical slang, scrimshaw denotes any precision mechanical work.
Caption
Ambrym. Mask (Rom), 19th century. Palm spathe, bamboo, coconut fiber, hemp, pigment, 37 3/4 x 8 x 9 in. (95.9 x 20.3 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede and Mrs Melville W. Hall, 86.229.5. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.229.5_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Mask (Rom)
Date
19th century
Geography
Place made: Western Ambrym, Ambrym, Malampa Province, Vanuatu
Medium
Palm spathe, bamboo, coconut fiber, hemp, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
37 3/4 x 8 x 9 in. (95.9 x 20.3 x 22.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Marcia and John Friede and Mrs Melville W. Hall
Accession Number
86.229.5
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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