Mask

45.14.5

Information

Gable peak mask (koruru) for a meeting house. The face is a flat, rounded rectangle in overall shape, pierced at the cheeks and mouth. The divided tongue is joined at the tip below the mouth, with a round knob at the end. An inverted 'V' shape on the forehead ends in a flat circle carved with a double spiral at the top of the head. Most of the rest of the front surface has ridges and haehae (grooves) and pakati (dog's tooth notches), or whakarare (a distorted pattern where several parallel ridges and grooves regularly curve across a notched ridge between them). The eyes are painted white with black pupils. The rest of the mask is painted red.