Q: Dear members of African Arts group. I would like to ask for a help to identify this beautiful and highly expressive mask.  http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/African_Arts/photos/albums/52889153  I have purchased it as a ‘Kwame’ mask, however, my colleague from France suggested possible Zande influence. At the same time there are certain characteristics of Lega visual language articulated here. Thank you very much.  David, 574 A: The question was sent to the African_Arts groups first.

A few days ago someone sent pictures of this carved head to African_Arts, the Yahoo discussion group. She was asking for more information about the piece. (It reminds me of some masks that have been sent to the Mask Man.) One of the group’s members wrote the following answer, which I found very interesting, especially after just writing the previous post. Here it is.  

Recently I noticed this large and beautifully painted piece on eBay. The copy said “Authentic Yoruba Epa mask. Expertly refurbished & lovingly restored. Tribally used. No cracks, scratches or breaks. Impeccably repaired. Used by the Ekiti Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria during their annual Epa festival.” I was amazed to see an Epa mask in such pristine condition. 569 Wikipedia says “An Epa is a ceremonial mask worn by the Yoruba people of Nigeria during the Epa masquerade.

Q: I recently purchased this mask from a Cameroonian street vendor in NYC. He said it was from Congo. It is made of wood, fairly light and pithy (palmwood?) and is roughly 16″H. After some online research I found a Bushoong mask that was on exhibit in Durango, CO earlier this year: As you can see it is strikingly similar. So perhaps mine is of Bushoong origins or a reproduction there of. More importantly I’m curious of it’s spiritual connotations. Is it for divination, sorcery, initiation? Goodwill, evil?  Chris, 566A A: I also looked through some books and searched the internet finding nothing quite like your mask.