Kamayura Ceremonial Mask

Mask, 20th century
Kamayura people, Xingu River Basin, Brazil
Fiber, wood, pigment and wax; 37 x 8 in.
Gift of Mr. Michael S. Merrifield
Bowers Museum #91.22.1

Carved from a single piece of wood this mask was worn and performed during a ceremony by a Kamayura shaman. The long fiber strands are woven into a cap on the reverse side of the mask that was secured over the head. In the front the dangling fiber concealed the wearer's face while still providing visibility. Shamans play an integral role in Kamayura life, bringing balance in times of unrest, curing the sick and communicating with the spiritual world. During the dry season an important ceremony takes place assuring that fish found in the surrounding low water level lakes, streams and rivers will rise to (or in other words be closer to) the surface where they can be easily caught. The visual connection between the mask's use and its function during this crucial time of year when high protein fish is gathered, is seen in the painted repeating diamond shapes that mimic the shape of fish as if one was looking down upon them as they swam. This same design would be repeated upon the shaman's body through the use of body paint. Traps, nets and spears are used by the Kamayura to fish but, probably most interesting is a form of communal hunting that occurs in August and September when a poison called timbo, obtained from beating a cane plant, is released into shallow waters surfacing the fish for easy collection.

All images and text under copyright. Pleae contact Collection Department for permission to use.

"Laughing Bill" Nickols

Photograph of "Laughing Bill" Nickols (1862-1940)
American; c. 1930
Photographer Edward E. Cochems (1874-1935)
Gift of Mr. Charles D. Swanner
Bowers Museum #37104

William S. Nickols was nicknamed "Laughing Bill" because of his high hysterical and very contagious laugh, as proven by the men's faces in this photograph. A Santa Ana resident, Nickols was given free passes to the theatres in town and regardless of how poor a comedy was, if Bill started laughing the audience followed and the show was considered a success. Mr. Nickols came to Santa Ana about 1900 and died in 1940 at the age of seventy-eight.

This photograph was taken by Edward E. Cochems a commercial photographer who lived and worked in Santa Ana. Cochems left a plentitude of documentation of early Santa Ana including churches, hospitals, businesses, natural and residential areas. Residents such as "Laughing Bill" Nickols were regular subjects of his work as well.

All images and text under copyright. Please contact Collection Department for permission to use.

Object of the Week: Guy Rose's Marguerite

Marguerite, c. 1909
Guy Rose (1867-1925); American
Oil on canvas; 15 x 19 in
Martha C. Stevens Memorial Art Collection
Bowers Museum #F7693

Guy Rose was the first painter born and raised in Los Angeles who rose to international importance. He spent much of his art career outside Los Angeles, studying in San Francisco and Paris, working as an illustrator and teacher in New York, and then living in Giverny, France, a colony abroad for American artists. In 1914, he permanently settled in Los Angeles. Although Rose mainly produced landscapes, he was a fine painter of the human figure, which made him one of Southern California's few good figure painters. Marguerite, a treasure of Bowers Museum’s permanent collection, is one of Rose’s top figural works. Marguerite was a model he frequently employed in France; she sits reading and wears a blue Chinese robe. Asian products, especially clothing, became fashionable in the late nineteenth century when these goods began to flood western markets. Artists enjoyed painting the lavish costumes because of their bright colors and bold patterns.

This painting was exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (then the Museum of History, Science and Art) in May, 1919 where it was purchased, becoming part of the Stevens Memorial Art Collection.

All text and images under copyright. Please contact Collection Department for permission to use.