Back on July 22, 2017 I received the following email. “As you know, collectors occasionally run into deformity and disease masks. I’d like to hear more about them.  I’d especially be indebted if you started a blog thread on the topic.”  Nate, 1190 The first mask is a Mbangu from the Pende people of the DRC in central Africa.  It represents a hunter who has suffered a stroke from the curse of a local sorcerer. The second is from Sri Lanka and would be used by a village shaman to cure a patient. The third mask shows a poor man with a very large goiter. From Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, it…

This is called an Agbogho mmuuo from the Ashanti people of  Ghana, West Africa. Sometimes the sellers of these round carvings will tell you more about their derivation, which goes like this…  “Translating into the Queen of women, this mask represents a wealthy woman of high status.  She personifies strength, beauty, and pride.  It is typically worn during performances at funerals and other ceremonies.  Seeking to illustrate maiden spirits, men dress up in these masks and parade as adolescent girls to exaggerate their features.  Shows including the mimickers are also joined by musicians who chat ‘Mmanwu si n’igwe’ – meaning the masked spirit from the sky and ‘Udemu na lenu’ –…

Guere Mask from the Ivory Coast can be very frighting. They are worn to terrify their enemy when at war. The Guere share many aspects of culture with the neighboring Dan tribe. They created masks that were used during festivities, funerals, rituals, wars, and that look rather scary and monstrous. The art of Guere people is stylistically connected to the Dan and both groups are often collectively referred to as We, meaning “men who easily forgive.” Like the Dan, the We use a wide variety of masquerades, which hold important regulatory position within their small, egalitarian communities. Masks are owned by families and used by individual lineage members in contexts…

This is a flat piece of metal pounded into an old man’s face. Many holes dot the entire edge of the mask which could have been connected to some kind of decoration. It was found in the early 20th century in Evenk, a village of the transbaikal region of  Siberia. The indigenous people living there are similar to Native Alaskans. It would have been used by a local shaman in ceremonies to cure illness, protect against danger and encouraging prosperity. 10 inches high. Traditionally, the term shamanism can be defined as a single system which includes a special outlook. It is aimed at the direct perception of the world, understanding…

Cajuns live in the largely self-contained communities in the bayou areas in southern Louisiana. They are descendants of French Canadians, who speak French. Unlike the people of New Orleans, their celebration of the Lenten Marti Gras is done in home-made masks and costumes that resemble nothing else I’ve ever seen. They don’t look like the masks and costumes used in New Orleans. Romanian masks (below) come the closest. With the exception of Halloween, masquerade is not used in most modern American celebrations.

A comment on another style I have not seen before from one of our viewers: “Just recently I was in the Mask Museum in Belgium and they considered puppets a kind of masks. I was surprised but got convinced by their definition, so now I agree on considering the Burka a kind of mask too. There are other types of hijabs that more resemble masks, like the Battoula in some Arab states: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battoulah.”  Rey

Q: I received this mask from a friend who found it, essentially in the garbage, while doing demolition work after a large flood. It is approximately 30″ x 12″ at the widest part. I have a general interest in artifacts from different parts of the world, particularly West Africa and Latin America (Amazonia in particular). Mike, 1358 A:  Quite a few decorative carvings come to me for identification each month. Yours is one of the more attractive ones, so I decided to make an exception and post a non-mask. People with little knowledge of tribal art enjoy them, but our viewers are collectors who avoid tourist souvenirs in favor of…