Lot 256 Dα

The mask was acquired by the Linden Museum in 1899 from Arthur Bässler and was recorded as coming from the "Gardner Insel" area, the island of the north coast of central New Irland. It was given to Ludwig Bretschneider in exchange in 1961.

Arthur Bässler was born in Glauchau, Saxony, into a family of merchants and craftsmen. His father owned a textile factory.

Bässler studied Natural Sciences, Geography and Anthropology in Heidelberg, Munich and Berlin.

Between 1887 and 1889, he travelled throughout New Guinea. This journey was followed by an expedition to Australia from 1891 until 1893 and research trips to New Zealand, Polynesia and Peru between 1896 and 1898. Throughout these years, he collected a large number of artefcats and also a wide range of ethnographic data.

On his return to Germany, he donated his collection to ethnological and anthropological museums in Berlin, Dresden and Stuttgart and established a foundation for Oceanic anthropological research. He died in Berswalde in 1907.