The identity of this mask in its ceremonial context is unknown, yet the skills of its carver are evident from every angle. All the bulges and hollows are knife-smoothed to a rounded finish, the only hard crease being between the lips. A row of holes in the upper lip indicates that a moustache once belonged there, made of a piece of hide, possibly of black bear, pegged in place. Holes along the top edge of the mask are harder to explain, though possibly being present to attach a shroud of some kind to cover the back of the wearer’s head. The sagging eyebrows and low-set eyes give the mask a kind of startled or puzzled visage, probably related to the role of the mask in ceremonial performance.

Reference: For another example of a Heiltsuk mask see Martha Black, Bella Bella: A Season of Heiltsuk Art, (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum / Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997), pp. 13 & 176, cat. 59.