Antiques Roadshow guest shows off ‘cursed’ mask worth thousands that causes ‘bad dreams’
An Antiques Roadshow guest was thrilled to learn more about her "cursed" mask that her sister described as "awful".
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An Antiques Roadshow guest brought in a disturbing mask worth thousands that left its previous owners feeling uneasy. The PBS series travelled to Spokane to meet with guests and their intriguing items, one of which was a creepy mask found years prior in a storage unit.
Explaining its provenance, the guest said: “It’s kind of an odd story, but my sister got it in a storage unit in Port Orchard, Washington, which is not too far from here. She found it in a storage unit, brought it home with her, and actually sold it to someone for a couple of hundred bucks.
“They had it for a couple of weeks and then brought it back and gave it back to my sister and said: ‘I don’t want it.’" She continued: “They said it was cursed or something and he was having bad dreams, so my sister got it.
“Then her boyfriend, who had put it on, was running around the house with the mask.
“Then he started having bad dreams so my sister said: ‘I don’t want this thing. This thing is cursed. It’s awful.’ I said: ‘I love him, he’s great.’ I named him Phil and my sister gave him to me and I’ve had him for about a year now.”
When asked by expert John Buxton what her husband thinks of the mask, she commented how he “absolutely hates it” and tries to hide it under something “every time he gets a chance”.
Buxton was then on hand to give some more clarity on what the item was: “This is a Widekum funerary mask. Widekum is a tribe on the border of Nigeria and Cameroon.
“It would be worn at funerals and it was really done primarily by a warrior society in this area and that is why the mask looks so ferocious.
“[It’s] probably going to be 20th Century. 1920s, 1930s, maybe. Probably not much earlier than that. It’s a wooden form and animal skin is stretched over it.”
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Unfortunately, the mask had a number of condition problems with splits along the side, caused by being out in the sun, and a few missing teeth.
Nevertheless, Buxton was thrilled to take a further look at the item and give a final appraisal.
He stated: “There is absolutely no doubt this is an authentic mask. The wear down here and on the sides is exactly what you’d expect cheeks, chins, you know, forehead, and all that.
“So this is absolutely the real deal. I love this mask and I’ll tell you don’t worry about being cursed.
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“I’ve had a number of them and so far, they haven’t done anything bad to me, so that’s good.
“This mask in a good gallery would be $1,500 to $2,500. If we didn’t have the condition problems, it could be as much as $3,500.”
The guest took a step back to do a little happy dance while saying: “Wow. I’m so excited because it’s real.”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on PBS and BBC iPlayer.
