Yes. Though painted with store-bought colors, some of the masks used today do not look much different than those from a 100 years ago. Others, like the five I’m showing today, are different. African folk art is changing just like so many other things. After all, the continent has experienced colonization, Christianity, Islam and urbanization. These are being used now in there respective cultures. They are not meant to be sold as collectibles for white people. We call them modern traditional art and they are hard to find on the internet or anywhere else. Most of what we see for sale today are poorly carved masks that try to look…

Yoruba-Ijebu mask (24 inches long) for the Ekine cult, depicting the water spirit Igodo from the Wests African country of Nigeria was sold at  Sotheby’s. I believe these people are also referred to as Ijaw.  The Niger river dominates their region. The mask is often worn on the top of the head of a man walking in deep water. Then all you can see is this strange creature gliding across the river. I’ll bet you would like one of these on your wall. Don’t worry– you can sometimes find affordable reproductions on the internet. A Nigerian water spirit is a must for any African mask collection. This mask is a…

Q:  I own a what I believe is a Dan mask which has been in the family for quite some time now. It has been much appreciated but now in search of a new home. Was wondering if you could tell me some things about the mask.   Dagomar, 1449 A:  Thanks for the excellent photos. Your Dan is the deangle type, with the familiar slit eye holes and vertical ridge on the bulging forehead. It is considered by the Dan to be very feminine. Even though it is a reproduction that could have been carved someplace other than Liberia or the Ivory Coast, it makes a great impression with it’s…

The Baule were a tribe that originated in the present day Ivory Coast area in Africa many years ago.  The Baule assimilated a number of their neighbors’ masquerade forms: a naturalistic face mask, a horned helmet mask, and a flat circular mask called kple kple. The last of these, a male mask of junior rank, is one of several paired works that would perform sequentially in Goli society entertainments or funerals. It impersonates an unruly nature spirit that is considered to be both frightening and amusing. The flat, disk-shaped face with ringed eyes and rectangular mouth is surmounted by ears and large curving horns. The bold red coloring has contrasting…

The character represented in this mask, Banda (also called Kumbaruba by some Baga groups), is a complex composite of human and animal forms. The long horizontal headdress is composed of the face of a human being and the jaw of a crocodile, whose angular teeth are visible along the side of the mask. The human face is characterized by Baga scarification marks as well as a woman’s elaborately braided coiffure. The top of the headdress features the horns of an antelope, the body of a serpent, and the tail of a chameleon. Banda headdresses are quite large; this example measures just over four feet in length. Yet despite their unwieldy…

Q:  I am inquiring on behalf of the owner of an art gallery in South Africa who has this mask in their collection. It was acquired from an informal trader. Not sure of price, but not more than a few hundred. Any info welcome. I only have one photo.  Leigh, 1432 A:  This looks like an old wooden mask from the Salampasu people who live in south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. Similar masks are often covered with small sections of sheet metal. This could be an old, used mask of considerable value, but without front, side and rear views at higher resolution, I can’t tell. I have seen many of…

This masterpiece was carved in the North West Region of Nigeria in the late 19th or early 20th century out of one piece of wood. It is 23 inches tall. ● Rediscovered Masterpieces of African Art, Dapper Museum, 1987, p. 155 ● African Art in American collections, W.M. Robbins & N.I. Nooter, 1989, no. 677 ● Facing the Mask, Franck Herreman, Museum for African Art, New York, 2002, no. 30 You can read more about this famous mask in any of the above books. This mask is one of the most complex and carefully carved wood sculptures I have ever seen. Also read about the Igbo people and their art. There are over 500…

  Q:  Can you help me identify this wood carved mask. The mask is about 13-1/2” at the widest part and 19” in height from chin to top of head.  My uncle purchased it from an artist in Honolulu in 1990.  Ben, 1416 A:  The masks comes from an important area that has distinctive masks and other folk art. The Grasslands of Cameroon are composed of three ethnic groups with ancestors in common. There are the one million Bamileke spread over the southwestern plateaus, in communities that have from 50,000 to 100,000 people; the 500,000 Bamenda-Tikar in the north; and, finally, the Bamum in the northwest, with a population of…

A dance mask with a mouth that moves from the Guere people of Liberia. Along with the Wobe and Sapo, and the We who live across the border in Ivory Coast, their carved art is similar. Wood with natural pigments, paint, horse hair, rope, leather, feathers, metal studs and other materials are often used in various combinations to make for a frightening appearance. As you can see, reticulating jaws are not uncommon. If it is not authentic, it is a very good reproduction.

I picked it out (on Pinterest) because I was so impressed by its design and beauty, however there was no description. Many different Kuba masks have strange horns, eyes, mouths, sculpted eyebrows, or intense decoration like this one, but never in this combination. Pende, Luba, and other tribes of the Democratic Republic of Congo are also capable of surprising creativity. Please comment on this African mystery mask.