mask, naga kanyava

1916.9.263

Name and identification of character
A cobra maiden, naga kanyava (Sin.).

Context
A character in a solo-dance in stage two in a Kolam performance.

Material
Wood, vel-kaduru (Sin.) (Nux vomica).

Iconography
A tall head-dress in the form of a dilated cobra hood. The human face is naturalistic. The sculpted upper frame comprising the cobra hoods is well proportioned and balanced. The face is painted in yellowish green. It has a half-cut forehead band decorated with pine flower designs, annasi mal (Sin.), painted in red, white and black. The hair hangs down in curled tresses. Both ears are adorned with circular discs, todu (Sin.), in the form of a flower. The eyes are fish-shaped, minakshi (Sin.), and are shaded by semi-circular eyebrows. The nose is straight and the nostrils drilled and painted in red. The lips are red, the mouth is small and closed. The upper frame has been sculpted in two parts. The dilated hood comprises two smaller cobras issuing from the parent cobra's mouth as a subsidiary decoration within the main hood. The ventral is neatly decorated with curvilinear lines painted in red, yellow and pink. The main hood is painted in geometric patterns.

2000 06 05
Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka