This is an older mask in the collection of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Similar to the previous mask sent to us by Marc, it’s from the same Bamileke people of the Cameroon Grasslands, but this one is worth much, much more. It was made by a famous carver for the king around 1900 and collected in 1925 by a French missionary.  994 It is a masterpiece! Look at how highly abstracted it is. Only a respected carver could get away with this much creativity. Also note that the design is simple and powerful, and that the textured areas are skillfully rendered. Truly great masks are of high quality… not…

Q:  This mask has been in my family for around 50 years. We don’t know much about it, but it was a gift from a doctor who traveled in Africa. I’m trying to get pointed in the right direction, any help would be great!  Marc, 996 A:  The right direction would be the Grasslands Region of Northern Cameroon. Perhaps the carver is from the Bamileke tribe, but there are a few other nearby groups with similar styles. The character is traditional, but even though it is at least 50 years old, I suspect it was made for the runners and tourists.  B “Runners” is a term for Africans who make…

Adam:  I’m really very interested in a category of mask that isn’t hugely desirable to the collecting market. I like 20th century pieces that are brightly painted, but have been tribally used, particularly the Nyau masks of the Chewa, Guere masks and Igbo/Yoruba masquerade pieces. Me:  Once I bought a collection of Chewa masks, but they are long gone. Four from that collection are on page 31 of my book, Masks of the World. This image of Elvis Presley is a Nyau mask from the Brooklyn Museum collection. Isn’t it fantastic!? The characters in Nyau Society performances often involves reverse role playing and the masks are sometimes humorous in nature.…

Me:  Before I post this mask you recently acquired, could you tell me more about it? Aaron:  I really don’t know much. I bought it at an auction. It’s the normal size, but it hasn’t been artificially aged. It looks to be 30 years old or so, although who knows. The maker used an oil-based paint, which is pretty unusual in tourist masks but not too uncommon in masks for tribal use, I think. That’s about all I know, other than the general information about the Gelede ceremony from two excellent books, Henry Drewal’s “Gelede: Art and Female Power Among the Yoruba” and Babatunde Lawal’s “The Gelede Spectacle”. Me:  Gelede…

You can have this excellent reference book on your smart phone for just $9.97. The pictures look just as good as the printed book. Here is a Mbangu mask from the Pende people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It represents a hunter who has suffered a stroke from the curse of a sorcerer. Collectors call this a sickness or deformity mask. It is on page 17 of Masks of the World by Ibold & Yohn. You can buy the digital version here on the website or by going directly to Amazon.com. What a wonderful source of info when at an auction, thrift store, tourist shop, etc!