Q:  I bought this mask in Ghana in 1997. Paid $50 after a bit of haggling. It’s made of wood and is 20 1/2 ” top to bottom and 7″ across. The vendor thought it was from Nigeria but I’ve not seen any similar masks from there. I did find one online with a very similar face but with ram’s horns instead of the single “spike”. There was no origin listed. Thanks for your help.  Bob, 1152 A:  Ghana borders Ivory Coast, where the Guro are one of the larger ethnic groups. Lots of masks are made there. Some are for ceremony, but most are for sale. Over the years…

  Q:  I bought this at a art group in Tijeras, New Mexico from a Nigerian fellow that had a bunch of masks.  He mentioned where it was from, but I can’t remember.  However, I do believe it was West African.  I paid $80 for it.  He said something about Fertility, and possibly a guardian of some sort. A:  This mask certainly looks like it was made in West Africa by a carver who supplies shops and runners like your Nigerian. But I can’t pin it down to a particular tribe or country. It seems to be a mix of several styles. Carved and painted quickly, then distressed to make it…

MasksoftheWorld.com is mostly about masks. The masks we show and write about have been made to wear over a person’s face for a particular purpose, and in a particular culture. This piece is a little different. It’s a headdress worn on top of the head in Sierra Leone, West Africa. That person would be either Temme or Mende, and a member of the Ode-Lay Society. It would take him some effort– the headdress is 30 inches high and weighs about 8 lbs. There are also real masks that are too small to be worn over the face. Some as small as 2 inches are worn hanging from a necklace or…

This piece was acquired in the field around 2001-6, measures 20.5 inches tall, and has some foam cushioning still stuck to the interior for comfort.   I just purchased this museum-quality African mask (with a nice stand and written provenance) for a little more than what a big thrift shop would charge. How is that possible? The Samo are a small tribe located in Burkina Faso near the Malian border. Hardly anyone knows about them. Their traditional arts are not in books or museums. As a friend of mine says, the important dealers and auction houses emphasize the authentic carvings from some tribes (Baule, Dogon, Bamana, Yombe, Lega, etc.), but…

  Q:  I hope that you find interest in this discovery of mine from eBay.  It measures 14″ high x 7″ wide.  I think I paid about $30 for it.  I haven’t seen a hand held African owl mask before.  This one is rather beat up, and as usual there is no history for it.  Fred, 1145 A:  I’ve seen owl masks from a lot of places in West and Central (DRC) Africa. I’ve also seen a few masks with handles, but not the two in combination like this one. I hope a reader will help with a comment. I’ll make a wild guess and say it’s from the Bobo…

Here is a traditional African animal mask made by the Bobo people of Burkina Faso. Though it has sustained some damage, I would still be proud to own it. It is quite beautiful and with a little research you could learn about the animal portrayed, the purpose of the ceremony, its anthropology, art history… and more. The three other carvings cannot be identified. They were made to be sold as a souvenirs or as wall art. Tourist masks like this can be fine for decoration. But real masks– the ones that are actually worn in native cultures– are often better looking and always more interesting. Note that two of these…

The Sande Society prepares young women for adulthood in the Mende and Temne cultures of Sierra Leone. These black helmet masks that fit over the head and down to the shoulders are the only masks in Africa worn by women. These unique ceremonial masks are called Sowos and have voluminous neck-rings, very small faces, large heads, and all kinds of coiffures. But they can also have other things that are different, such as horns, abstract sculpture, different animals, and much more. There are plenty of female characters in African masquerade, but they are always portrayed by male dancers. I have seen collections of Sande Society masks that show an amazing…

Thank you very much Bob, you confirmed my suspicions about it. Also appreciate the addition of it to your website along with the mention of Kwele masks. I attached a picture of a mask I have.  I do wish to get a more traditional looking one. There are ones covered in kaolin clay and flatter in shape, like the one you posted.   Forest, 1140 A:  Forest is referring to a recent post on March 24th which showed a much different Kwele antelope mask. This tribe makes quite a few versions of the Kwele. You can see more different ones on page 28 of Masks of the World by Ibold &…

Q:  I recently purchased this donkey mask on eBay. It weights 3 pounds and is 17 inches long. The seller and I knew it was far under-priced for such a gorgeous mask. I looked it up and from what I gather it’s either from Portugal or Spain, but I’m not entirely sure because similar masks don’t have leather straps and metal inlay detail.  Forest, 1129   (He collects animal masks of all kinds and is especially fond of Kwele antelopes.) A:  I wrote back that he was correct on location, but that it was decorative wall art, not a real mask. Instead of just writing back to him I decided to…

Q:  This is another mystery mask from my collection. When I purchased it years ago, it was described as an old “Cross River” mask, but I haven’t been able to find anything similar in searches using that description. It appears to be old and used with surface wear, stains and multiple layers of paint.There’s a square slot and a few nails at the  top where it may have had a figure or crest attached at one time. Hoping one of your African experts can shed some light on this.  Dan, 1128 A:  The first mask shown is from the Ibibio people who live in the Cross Rivers area of southern…