The Kwere people (also called Doei) migrated to what is now Tanzania around 1000 A.D. from south of Mozambique. The Kwere do not have centralized political systems, but instead are based on self-governing matrilineal kin groups. Lineage heads are chosen by community leaders. These leaders are responsible for distributing land and maintaining lineage rituals. Leaders are also in charge of settling disputes between family members and are often attributed with having spiritual powers. Most Kwere believe in mulungu, a god who was associated with rainfall. Most prayers are directed to familial spirits. Religion among the Kwere is a household affair and every family member is responsible for appeasing its ancestral…

Called a nganga diphomba, this handsome mask would have been made in what was then called the lower Belgian Congo. It is now in the Royal Museum of Central Africa. It was used for many different purposes in ceremonies for the Yombe people. As you can see, the carving is expert, where as the rough chin extension is there for a beard of buffalo hair to be attached. I hope you appreciate this mask as much as I do. The second nganga is a female version from the Brooklyn Museum of Art and was more quickly made and then used much more. Both would get an A. Bob, 1756

During the early 1900s, the aesthetics of traditional African sculpture became a powerful influence among European artists who formed an avant-garde in the development of modern art. In France, Henri Matisse , Pablo Picasso , and their School of Paris friends blended the highly stylized treatment of the human figure in African sculptures with painting styles derived from the post-Impressionist works of Cézanne and Gauguin . The resulting pictorial flatness, vivid color palette, and fragmented Cubist shapes helped to define early modernism. While these artists knew nothing of the original meaning and function of the West and Central African sculptures they encountered, they instantly recognized the spiritual aspect of the…

These are common throughout Africa. The first mask is from the Suka people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Covering the dancer’s entire head and resting on his shoulders, it is very rare that African helmet masks would be used for protection in fighting. The second is a Sowei for the women’s Sande Society in Sierra Lione. We posted one called “Sande Society mask for women only” July 16, 2019. You can access it easily. Last is a Lipiko, a mask that is still greatly used in both Mozambique and Tanzania. You can find several on this site. These last two helmet masks are very popular with collectors. There are…