Featured Where Does This Wood Mask Come From?

I know this was probably made as a tourist item, but I still think it is pretty cool. Was wondering if anyone might know what region of the world it comes from. Has a fanged face bottom portion, with what looks like a dragon head above that. Measures 18 1/2" tall and is 9" wide.

 

Never mind, i was able to find te answer, It is an Ifugao dragon mask from the Phillipines.

 

Filipino-Ifugao-Carved-Wood-Dragon-Demon-Wall-Mask-Philippines-Warrior-Devil



If I'm correct ...they carve them ..100,000 at a time......per week....every week since 1953.....

 

lol, yes there are a lot of them out there, but still pretty cool looking if you are into tribal masks

 

The best reason to buy something .

 

Maybe so, but not the best type of mask to buy .....

 

I dunno...I bet my dentist would love one!

 

Silver, I'm not going to give one to my dentist. Maybe anonymously, because I think he'd find cavities that weren't there yesterday.

OK, main reason for this post.
From first pic down, I was thinking "mass produced." Komo confirmed that.
SO! Please, you may do it briefly, tell me how they do that. Machinery wise.

 

Ummm, two guys in a shed......times 50 sheds per village.....times 50 villages...

That's 5000 guys ....carving 20 masks a week !

Who said anything about machines....these are hand carved by trained carvers....
who may in fact be sitting outside the shed , on most sunny days !

 

So they ARE hand carved!

To a dolt like me (but with a HUGE family) those show talent, and help feed the kids. Maybe we can start a project to import them for ALL American dentists - with SilverT as CFO. Anyone want to volunteer to handle marketing?

 

You mistake talent for skill...

They may be skilled craftsmen .....but not talented....

this is talent.....



this is not....

 

Oh, mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Those are amazing, Professor!

 

No one here could disagree with you, that is magnificent. I'll take a WAG and say maybe 3,4,5, 6 months to finish?????? A simple WOW!!!!

I am certainly able to distinguish between those choices.

If my mother-in-law asked me to bring one back for her on my next trip, which do you think I would choose?

 

The gnarly dude on top?

 

Yes, hand-carved...but especially with the Indonesian hand-carved masks it may be a group effort; one of the kids does the rough carving, Dad does the fine details, Mom paints it.
And one of the things that irritates me is that the general style of the item, and sometimes the exact design, is taken from another culture with which the carver is unfamiliar, often based on photos provided by a middleman.
It is especially irritating if a NW Coast master carver spends the time to come up with an original design, only to have it copied and mass-produced. I can name several artists who have been the victims of this.
This devalues their own work, and infringes their copyrights. And even when only the general style is being copied, it devalues the work of trained artists of the culture, who are also struggling to support their families, and have actually "paid their dues" through the years of apprenticeship needed to learn their art.
And it invites fraud, in that the replicas or fakes are often sold or resold as genuine or antique Native American or Canadian First Nations work, and the buyers mistakenly pay $500 or $5000 for things that are worth $50, and for which the Indonesian carver was paid $5.
I have every sympathy for the third-world carvers who are seeking a living; but they are being victimized by importers and middlemen who are often illegally misrepresenting the carvings and victimizing the ultimate buyer, and who are not sharing the profits with those who actually do the work.
And sadly, there are many traditional Indonesian masks, from their own culture, which the makers could be carving.
I'm just ranting, and not saying that Josh has done anything wrong.
But there is an international multi-million dollar business based on fraud and cultural theft, and that does bother me.

 

Fakesie... I had no idea. It is obviously a very complicated situation with many victims, and a lot of passionate observers. I myself have discovered my inadvertent participation in some very wrong things. Not the least of which is that I discovered that, by owning a parrot, I am part of an international exotic pet trade that involves horrible animal abuse, inhumane smuggling, and extinction of species.
Thanks for all that information.

 

All-Fakes. Thank you very much.

"I can name several artists who have been the victims of this.
This devalues their own work, and infringes their copyrights. And even when only the general style is being copied, it devalues the work of trained artists of the culture, who are also struggling to support their families, and have actually "paid their dues" through the years of apprenticeship needed to learn their art.
And it invites fraud."

I was feeling sorry for the skilled workers, not realizing that not only were they being taken advantage of, but were unwittingly affecting other more talented carvers. And, of course, the not honest middlemen were taking advantage of both sides.

You must admit that the comparisons in above pictures are SO FAR apart that I did not take into consideration the entire picture. As you point out, however, there are obvious reasons for us to accept your and Komo's strong feelings.

I especially apologize for not remembering that you had previously stated those same points of contention. Sorry, I'll be more careful in the future.

 

Is OK, Gila and OldGuy! No need for apology.

 

There's just too much to know!