Authentic African masks from West and Central Africa: Dan, Baule, Guro, Mende, Yoruba, Punu, Chokwe and Pende.
An African mask was made to be worn. It appeared in public with a costume, music and dance, usually as the visible form of a spirit or an ancestor, and the carved face now shown on a wall was one part of that whole. Who could commission a mask, who could wear it and when it could be seen were matters governed by the societies that owned it.
The Dan of Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire carved the smooth oval face with narrowed eyes known as deangle, and the miniature passport masks that an owner carried for protection. Among the Mende of Sierra Leone the black helmet mask of the Sande society, with its ringed neck and dressed hair, is worn by women, which is rare in African masquerade. Baule and Guro carvers in Côte d'Ivoire made the horned disc of the Goli kple kple and the antelope-faced Zamble. The Yoruba Epa mask of Nigeria is a helmet that carries a carved figure above it.
In Central Africa, the white-faced masks of the Punu of Gabon and the Pwo masks of the Chokwe both portray an ideal of female beauty, though they are danced by men.
Each entry names the people and region, describes the type and condition, and states provenance where it is known. Every piece is guaranteed authentic and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
