Taíno Maskette, Based

Big lips, round eyes and a forehead full of geometry, carved from a single shell.

This maskette, based, is Taino, from Cuba, the Dominican Republic or Haiti, Caribbean, and dates to 800 – 1500 CE. It is shell, from the Greater Antilles region. Taino carvers made small masks from shell, stone and wood, generally worn as ornaments or attached to belts, often with a strongly stylized face. Here two round eyes are cut through the pale shell above a ridged nose and a thick, protruding mouth. The forehead is incised with concentric circles and stepped key patterns. The back shows the natural curve of the shell, stained brown. It is 5.25 inches high and 3.5 wide.

An expression worth carving in shell.